TITLE:
Using DNA Sequences and Phylogenetic Trees as Tools for Teaching Entomology to Undergraduate Students: A Simple Approach
AUTHORS:
Mohammad Ali Al-Deeb
KEYWORDS:
DNA Sequence, Phylogenetic Tree, GenBank, Teaching, Entomology
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Entomology,
Vol.9 No.4,
October
11,
2021
ABSTRACT: This technical note aims to show how any instructor teaching entomology
can use the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) and the “one click” mode
of Phylogeny.fr to teach undergraduate students about insect DNA similarity in
a simple way. Teaching an entomology course requires the use of numerous tools
to help students grasp different concepts. Knowing that there are more than one
million described species of insects means that teaching students about insect
identification and taxonomy can be challenging. However, here we present two
easy exercises that could be used as classroom or take-home assignments to demonstrate various levels of DNA similarity among different insect taxa. Such exercises unlock students’ creativity and
break the barrier of fear of bioinformatics. Moreover, they open up new ways for
them to understand insect taxonomy through molecular biology and allow them to
develop new skills that contribute to strengthening their scientific
performance in the future, especially when they do research as graduate
students. Finally, this note is an example of
how to integrate simple bioinformatics tools into the teaching of
entomology.