About this project

The main objective of this project is the development of educational tools that enable students to use their PCs in an interactive and dynamic way, for the purpose of examining and manipulating drug molecules and their biological targets in 3-dimensional space. In doing so, students will discover the way drug molecules and physiologically important target molecules recognize and interact with each other in our body to fight disease and to bring about the biological events that keeps us alive and healthy. This technology brings much needed hands-on experience to students, who at the present must conceptualize the 3-dimensional world from 2-dimensional images on the pages of textbooks. The interactive nature of the exercises brings excitement into the discovery process, greatly stimulating and enhancing the learning experience. This project should be regarded as an educational component of the UB 2020 Strategic Strengths "Molecular Recognitions in Biological Systems". This technology will be gradually transformed into educational modules covering a broad range of topics, which can be independently incorporated into other science courses. These modules will be made available on a dedicated web-site to UB faculty for instructional use, and will be linked to a searchable gallery of 3D illustrations and references. A series of exercises and tutorials will accompany the various modules.

This project has been implemented through the UB Ed Tech Grants Program. Professor Thomas Kalman, of the Department of Chemistry at the University at Buffalo is the Primary Investigator.