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Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, Vol. 29 (2) (2001) pp. 60-65
© 2001 IUBMB. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S1470-8175(01)00019-4

Fluorescence spectroscopy in biochemistry: teaching basic principles with visual demonstrations

John C. Croney a, David M. Jameson a and Robert P. Learmonth b * learmont@usq.edu.au

a Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
b Department of Biological and Physical Sciences, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Qld. 4350, Australia

Abstract

Although most biochemistry curricula include some treatment of light absorption and spectrophotometry, discussion of fluorescence spectroscopy is generally omitted. This omission is unfortunate given the increasing use of fluorescence in many fields of biochemical research. In this paper we briefly review the principles and applications of fluorescence in biochemical systems, from the viewpoint of teaching fluorescence in undergraduate curricula. Simple practical demonstrations are presented, which clearly demonstrate important concepts yet require minimal specialized equipment.

Keywords: Teaching fluorescence; Demonstrations; Spectra; Quenching; Solvent relaxation; Fluorescence; Light absorption; Light emission

*Corresponding author. Tel.: +61-7-4631-2702; fax: +61-7-4631-1530

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