Professor Luttinger's Web Page
Amy LuttingerAssistant ProfessorDepartment of Biology
Office: MH 538B
E-mail:
amy.luttinger@salemstate.edu
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Quick Contents of this site:
About Professor LuttingerClasses - Spring 2004
World of Cells (Bio 122-03): SyllabusWorld of Cells Lab (Bio 122 L28, L30): Syllabus
Biological Systems 1 (Bio105-01): Syllabus
Biological Systems 1 Lab (Bio105- L23): Syllabus
Check here to see if there are any messages or updates for students in my courses.
What is BIO122?
What should I
do if I want to improve my grade in BIO101 or BIO102 by retaking a class?
Advice for my Advisees
Back to Nature Would
you like to go for a walk in the woods? Check out the Forest River
Conservation Area!
For a picnic or a playground, visit Forest
River Park .
A little advice for high school and middle
school students considering a college major in biology or other sciences,
nursing, math or engineering.
For those of you who smoke.
Links .
About Professor Luttinger
I am a molecular biologist. My professional interests include gene
regulation, the development of competence in bacteria (competence is the
ability some bacteria possess to take DNA from their surroundings and incorporate
this DNA into their own genome), DNA topoisomerases (enzymes that can twist
and/or unwind DNA and in some cases can separate two interlocked circles
of DNA), genomics and evolution.
My free time is mostly spent with my family. I have a husband who is an astrophysicist, two children, and two cats. We like going for walks in the woods and on the beach, and looking for animals. We enjoy canoeing, sailing, ocean kayaking, snorkeling, and fossil hunting as well. Well, the cats don't do much snorkeling or kayaking. Their favorite activity is helping us watch TV.
When I have time, I bring animals (backyard bugs, tadpoles and frogs, snakes, lizards, horseshoe crabs, Madagascar hissing roaches) and fossils into the Salem State Preschool and Saltonstall Elementary School in Salem. I love introducing kids to animals and fossils. Many children are very excited to see and touch living things. Children are very tactile. I like to imagine that when a kid touches things that are alive a connection is made. I hope that kids that make these connections will grow up to care about these organisms, and their environment.
A frog meets students at the Salem State College Preschool (above).
A frog visits students in a Science Club I ran at Saltonstall Elementary
School in Salem.
A bearded dragon from Australia (lent by Prof. Paul Kelly) meets students
in Pet Club at Saltonstall (Fall 2002).
Students in Pet Club at Saltonstall Elementary School meet a corn snake (lent by Prof. Paul Kelly) in Fall 2002.
What should
I do if I want to improve my grade in BIO101 or BIO102 by retaking a class?
You will have to register for the classes under the new designation (BIO101
is now BIO122, BIO102 is now BIO121). At your earliest convenience,
see the Biology Department Chairperson Dr. Susan Case in MH404. Because
course numbers have changed, a special notice needs to be sent to the Registrar's
Office about each student who is doing this. Dr. Case will generate
that memo at the end of the semester, after grades have been submitted.
Your current instructor does not need to know about it and will not be told
(in order to preserve your privacy.)
Back to Nature
Would you like to go for a nice walk in the woods here in Salem? A
path through the Forest River Conservation Area starts in the back of the
South Campus parking lot. Look for the sign (see below), next to the
dumpster. While it is a beautiful walk, expect mud and be careful of poison
ivy.
A virtual nature walk
If you look carefully you can see an egret above.
Please don't litter. Bring out what you bring in.
Forest River Park
Would you like to picnic in a park near the main campus? Forest River Park (which is a different place)
has picnic tables and small beaches, and is a short walk from the main campus.
There is a nice playground for kids as well. To get there, go to the
intersection of Lafayette St. and Loring Avenue. This is where 1A splits away
from 114 (or joins with it, depending on your point of view.). At that intersection,
take West Street to the end. The park is in front of you. Picnic
tables and the play ground are to the right.
Do you smoke cigarettes? Would you like to quit?
You know smoking is bad for you, but its tough to quit.My mom and her partner Al both quit smoking in Fall of 2001. They had been smoking 2-3 packs /day for about 55 years (each)! How did they do it?
For more information about the health effects of smoking go to the CDC (Center for Disease Control) tobacco site.
A little Advice for high school and middle school students considering a college major in biology or other sciences, nursing, math, or engineering. This is also true for middle school and high school students who are considering attending medical school, dental school, or veterinary school after college.
Take all the science and math classes you can now!! At least a year each of Biology and Chemistry, and Math through pre-calculus. Take calculus if you can. Do NOT avoid the hard classes in high school, the ones you are afraid you may do poorly in. Why? Because in college you will need to take them. They will be much easier in college, if you have already been introduced to the topics in high school.
For example, as a biology major in many college programs (including
Salem State College), you will need to take math through pre-calculus,
four semesters of chemistry, two semesters of physics, and 8 or more biology
classes. You will be taking 2-3 science and math courses each
semester, sometimes more! At Salem State College, nursing majors takes
both Chemistry and Biology courses their first semester. Entering college
having already had these subjects in High School will make it easier for you
to succeed in college.
Links
Links useful for students in introductory biology courses:Biology Department Home Page
Salem State College Home Page
Biology: Understanding Life (Alters- Text) Home Page
Biology (Mader- Text) Home Page
Visualize cells at Cells Alive!
A web based biology text (BIOLOGY Pages)
Another web based text (maricopa)
MIT experimental study group web site on biology (fairly technical)
A few generally interesting links:
Guide to Genetic Engineering
Web Sites
Human Chromosome Launch Pad
Is a place to look for info on the Human Genome Project (HGP), human chromosomal
mutations, and the ethical and social and legal implications of the HGP.
Pedro's
Biomolecular Research Tools has a wide variety of Biology web
sites listed
Quack Watch has information
on a wide variety of dubious medical and health products and theories.
(It generally debunks them.)
Sceptic.com (like it sounds)
Center for Disease Control (CDC)
Scientific American has a wide variety
of science and technology articles on line.
PBShas a wide variety of information and
nice links to sites, especially for teachers.
Want to know how things work?
There is a great web site made with you in mind.
To learn about physics go to Physics
Central.
Genewatch UK is a web site opposed
to genetically engineered foods. While it is quite biased, it has
a wide variety of information and many useful links.
The Bradford-SIPRI project has
information on biochemical warfare and biological warfare and military uses
of biotechnology.
accessexcellence.com is a
science web site designed for teachers. There are many useful links here.
For biology majors and those interested in more technical
information (but see above sites also):
The Institute for Genomic Research has
a wide variety of information available including the complete DNA sequences
of many organisms.
To keep informed on what's new in science, read articles from the
magazine Science (both research
articles and reviews)
Shark among the kelp.
last modified Feb. 6, 2004