Teaching

Bio 110: The Cell

Upper division course for students in bio major. The course covers fundamental principles of cell biology, at the microscopic and molecular levels, on the structure and physiological properties of the cell, including its organelles, energy extraction and storage, signal transduction, and cell cycle. Major topics covered in this course include: the theory of some laboratory techniques used in cell biology research, structure and function of the plasma membrane, membrane transport, protein trafficking, the cytoskeleton, signal transduction pathways, and cell division and proliferation.

QSB 211: Advanced Neurobiology – Neurodevelopment and Cell Signaling

This is an advanced level course for graduate students with a background in fundamental Neuroscience. The course is designed to introduce principles in neurodevelopment across several scales of neurobiology, including molecular and cellular biology, organ patterning and tissue formation.  It focuses on illustration of how the organism integrates these principles to instruct the formation of the nervous system. Students will practice their oral communication skills during presentation of research literature, and hone their writing skills with a writing project.

QSB 298: Directed group study – Neurobiology journal club and joint lab meeting

Weekly journal club on neuroscience literature. Monthly joint lab meeting among four neurobiology labs.

QSB 139: Research Lab of Cell Biology – course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE)

Designed as a course of course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE), this curriculum is tailored to initiate students into the realms of discovery-driven research in cell biology. The goal is to immerse students in the open-ended research through the process of elucidating the previously undetermined subcellular localization of disease-related proteins. Pivotal skills include molecular cloning, cell culture, cell transfection methods, immunofluorescence staining procedures, and microscopic imaging techniques. Students will actively examine cell and organelle morphology through fluorescence imaging technique, and explore literature related to cell signaling pathways and their implications in human diseases. 

Outreach

2024 Summer: Dr. Ge is giving a mitochondria talk to the middle school students. The class is most interested in the mitochondria’s connection with human diseases.

2024 Summer: Yazan is giving the cohort of middle school students a tour to the lab. The microscope and cell sample slides intrigue them the most.

2024 Summer: Eva and Oscar are leading a summer campus activity “extraction DNA from the fresh strawberries” for the middle school students.

2023 Fall: Jingyi and Eva hosted the science fair project for Tian and Vasudha, 8th grader students from Hoover Middle School, and they won 1st place in the district science fair! Congratulations!



2023 Summer: The Ge lab hosted a high school teacher, Ms. Thornton, as a participant of our NSF CAREER Award grant. It is great to have you in our lab, Ms. Thornton!

2022 summer, Dr. Ge led a virtual summer session for 5-8th grade students: “What is DNA and how to extra DNA from strawberries”

2021: CCBM virtual summer camp for K-12 students, “What is DNA and how to build a double helix model with straws and tapes”

2019: presentation in the STEAM center at Merced school district, “Human brain: what does it do and how does it look like?”

2018: Dr. Ge is teaching 2nd grade students in Chenoweth elementary school to extract DNA from strawberries.