The BIO2010 Revolution: What It Is, Why NIGMS is Helping to Lead It, and Why You Should Join It
By Derrick Tabor, Ph.D., and Eric Jakobsson, Ph.D., NIGMS

The National Academy of Sciences report, BIO2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists, is an important read for MORE grantees and others committed to training the next generation of researchers and scientific leaders. The report, commissioned by NIH and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, points to a coming crisis in biomedical research. After reading the report, one can only conclude that the education of most young biologists is incomplete because it does not provide the quantitative skills and knowledge of chemistry, physics, and engineering necessary to function at the cutting edges of modern biomedical research.

To solve this problem, the report suggests dramatic changes in biology curricula and in how students are taught. The content of biology instruction needs to match the quantitative and interdisciplinary nature of modern biomedical research; the way students learn should also match the way scientists learn—through research. BIO2010 recommends inquiry- and problem-based learning so that students can have meaningful exposure to how scientists think and how they analyze scientific problems. General skills like writing, reading, critical thinking, and clear commu-nication should be stressed in all biology classrooms.

NIGMS has adopted the BIO2010 education reform agenda as critical to the long-term success of the Institute's mission to train future scientists. NIGMS is spearheading an NIH Roadmap initiative to develop interdisciplinary curricula, and proposals from this initiative are under review. The Institute is also collaborating with the NIH Office of Science Education to issue a funding announcement for curriculum development aligned with BIO2010.In addition, a summer workshop for faculty that will lay the foundation for a lasting partnership between MORE grantees and other institutions of higher education is in the planning stage. This partnership is expected to enhance tomorrow's biomedical research workforce and to ensure that all segments of our nation's youth will have an equal opportunity to benefit from the biology education reform movement.

Staff of the NIGMS Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology and the MORE Division, along with others in the Institute, will continue their efforts to advance NIGMS' contribution to the reform of biology education. We hope that you, too, will be motivated and empowered to work with us to achieve that goal. Several MORE institutions have applied for and received administrative supplements to their existing Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research (U*STAR) grants to integrate quantitative analytical methods into the pre-MARC and MARC science curricula. The aim of these supplements is to improve the quantitative skills of underrepresented minority students in biomedical science fields. For both the MARC and Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) programs, curriculum reform is an allowable cost.

The complete BIO2010 report is available online at http://www.nap.edu/books/0309085357/html. Inviting biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, and engineering faculty to read and respond to BIO2010 might be one way to jump-start or continue the biology education reform movement at your institution. Stay ahead of the curve!

Editor's Note: Tabor was a program director in the MORE Division and is now with the NIH National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities; Jakobsson is director of the NIGMS Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology.