Meeting Abstract
The NSF calls on scientific educators to actively involve students in their learning process, rather than make them passive learners. Histotechnology is a commonly used tool in medical research, pathological testing, and pharmaceutical development. We developed a three-week, inquiry-based laboratory module that equips our students with the knowledge of tissue sampling, processing and imaging so that they are ready for careers in the biomedical sciences. We induced diabetes in rats by injecting them with streptozotocin while control rats were injected with buffer solution. Students compared pre- and post-injection weights following one week of treatment, as well as final blood samples for glucose and insulin concentrations using an ELISA. Additionally, pancreatic tissue was collected, fixed, and paraffin embedded. Students sectioned and stained prepared slides using a hematoxylin/phloxine protocol. The number of islet beta cells were compared between control and treated rats. Blood glucose measurements demonstrated that treated rats had significantly higher blood glucose levels and lower beta cells numbers, while the ELISA tests indicated that treated rats had significantly lower blood insulin concentrations. Following this three-week laboratory module, students scored higher on competency tests and presented an individual report with images and quantitative data analyses that included insulin concentrations, blood glucose levels, and histological images of pancreatic islets, in addition to beta cell quantification. In summary, students who completed this three-week laboratory module were able to experimentally investigate and link the clinical symptoms of type 1 diabetes which include weight loss, increased blood glucose and decreased insulin levels and relate them to the underlying physiological cause, the destruction of pancreatic beta cells.
