Unit 1 - How to Fight Infection
In unit students will be exposed to interventions involved in detecting, fighting, and preventing an infectious disease as they investigate a potential outbreak at a fictitious college. They will use various techniques and technologies to diagnose and determine the source of the disease on campus. They will analyze clues found in the history and physical of each possible patient, identify pathogens present in body fluids through DNA sequence analysis, and test for the infectious agent using the antibody-based Enzyme-linked Immunosorbant Assay (ELISA). Students will also be introduced to bioinformatics as they explore genetic databases to identify known gene sequences. Lastly, they will also review principles of human immunity as they learn how antibodies can be used to identify the presence of a disease agent.