Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology
Publications | Research | Faculty
Background:
Jim Blankenship is a senior lecturer in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics. He received a B.S. in Biology from Cornell in 1976, and an M.S. in Biochemistry from Cornell University in 1991. He has taught a number of laboratory courses at Cornell including microbiology, and several biochemistry lab courses in addition to the Introductory Biochemistry courses that he is currently teaching (BIOMG 3300 and BIOMG 3340). Although he has taught BIOMG 4320, a senior-level course in cell biology for the past five summers, starting in the summer of 2011, he will be teaching the new freshman-level cell and developmental biology course. He has been and continues to be actively engaged in the Biology Curriculum reform that is underway and is the Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Biochemistry and Molecular and Cell Biology Programs of Studies.
Courses Taught:
BioMG 3330 Principles of Biochemistry, Individualized Instruction
Research Focus:
I currently co-teach the Principles of Biochemistry, Individualized Instruction Course (BIOMG 3300) with Yuxin Mao (Fall) and Peter Hinkle (Spring). The course is divided into fourteen units of core material that covers the areas of protein structure and function, membranes, molecular biology, and metabolism. The course has no regularly scheduled classes which allows the students to work on biochemistry when it is convenient. The study center is open 65 hours each week and is always staffed with at least two teaching assistants. The course is offered in both the fall and the spring semesters;approximately 250 students register in the course per semester. BIOMG 3300 is 4 credits. Students can enroll in BIOMG 3340 for an additional credit. The additional activities included in BIOMG 3340 include biomolecule visualization using PyMOL, a computer graphics program available free of charge for educational use, and participation in a seminar series on "Current Topics in Molecular Biology". Topics that are currently included in the seminar series include cancer, obesity, the molecular basis of sensory reception, and development.
James E. Blankenship and Karen L. Kindle. 1992. Expression of Chimeric Genes by the Light-Regulated cabII-1 Promoter in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii: A cabII-1/nit1 Gene Functions as a Dominant Selectable Marker in a nit1-nit2-Strain. Molecular and Cellular Biology 12(11), 5268-5279).