Unit 6 Reflection

Unit 6 talked about biotechnology, how it works, and its applications. 

Biotechnology itself is the study and manipulation of living things to benefit ourselves. Its used industrially, environmentally, Medically, Pharmaceutically, agriculturally and diagnostically. This includes fermentation, gene therapy, forensics and identification, and GMOs. 

Technologies include Polymerase Chain Reaction, Gel Electrophoresis, and Sequencing. PCR is used to yield millions of copies of a portion of DNA for it to be further examined. The strand is denatured and a primer is added to both ends. Then DNA polymerase yields the new double stranded DNA. This repeats itself. Electrophoresis runs a current through bands of DNA on a gel. The shorter bands move farther while the longer bands don't move as much. Sequencing determines the exact order of bases in a strands of DNA, resulting in an electropherogram. 

We also learned about recombinant DNA which is inserting foreign DNA into an organism. The DNA fragment is cut by a restriction enzyme and put into the plasmid, which is resistant to an antibiotic. The new bacteria is then grown and the protein is extracted. This created transgenic or GMOs.

Bioethics it the study of decision making as applied to biology. Based on your morals and values, you can take a stance on an issue. You use this to answer questions like: Is it okay to take extra napkins from a fast food restaurant?

Lastly, we did the pGLO lab, where we inserted a pGLO plasmid into e.coli. We placed them on different petri dishes and the dish with arabinose, broth, and ampicillin glowed under UV light.

Overall, this unit was a little tricky at first. I didn't understand recombinant DNA or the technologies until we did the labs. After doing the candy electrophoresis lab and the pGLO lab, it made much more sense to me.

I would like to learn more about the forensics side of biotech and agricultural applications. I also would have liked to do a lab that inserted DNA into a plasmid using restriction enzymes. I want to learn more about the successes and failure of biotech experiments, because I think it would be very funny and interesting.

pGLO Lab Conclusion

1.

Obtain your team plates.  Observe your set of  “+pGLO” plates under room light and with UV light.  Record numbers of colonies and color of colonies. Fill in the table below. Plate Number of Colonies Color of colonies under room light Color of colonies under   UV light - pGLO LB N/A  we didn't do this  not part of lab - pGLO LB/amp 0 no colonies no colonies + pGLO LB/amp 12 milky white milky white + pGLO LB/amp/ara 16 milky white neon green

2.	What two new traits do your transformed bacteria have?
	The transformed bacteria have the ability to glow under UV light and resistance to the antibiotic, ampicillin.
3.	Estimate how many bacteria were in the 100 uL of bacteria that you spread on each plate. Explain your logic.
	According to bio.net, bacteria with antibiotics divide every hour, and those without reproduce avery half hour. According to this method, that would result in 1048576 cells in a colony, multiply that by 16 and you get: 16777216
4.	What is the role of arabinose in the plates?
	Arabinose is the trigger that makes the growing fluorescent protein present.
5.	List and briefly explain three current uses for GFP (green fluorescent protein) in research or applied science.
	Scientists use GFP as a marker of proteins.They tag it to specific proteins in a cell and monitor the activity of it. It doesn't interfere with processes that occur within the organism but can be used to study the processes that occur. It is also used to track the spreading of a virus because the protein is inherited as the virus divides. It is also used commercially in pets like fishes to make them look interesting.
6.	Give an example of another application of genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is used in agriculture to create crops with more desirable traits. An example of this would be corn. It is modified to be resistant to a pesticide called herbicide glyphosate which is a weed killer.

Candy Electrophoresis Lab

1)
a. The dye bands looked about the same length as the reference bands, maybe a little bit smaller but not too much.
b. The dyes were the same colors as the reference band, but slightly different shades or hues.
c. The blue and yellow from the candies stacked up to form one band with the yellow on top and the blue below.
d. All of the dyes moved in the "right" direction.

These dyes might be slight variations in the specific candy used. Also, it could depend on how much of the dye you squirted into the gel, producing a bolder or lighter color.

2) Fast green FCF, and Citrus red 2 have similar structures to the dyes used in this lab, so they might migrate similarly.

3) Dog food manufacturers might put artificial food colors in dog food to appeal to the humans who are buying them. They don't appeal to the dogs because the dogs don't see the colors.

4) I think I eat mostly food that doesn't have dye in it, especially since I'm vegetarian. But food that I eat occasionally that have dyes in them could be chips, gummies, and cake.

5) length and speed control the distance that the colored dye solutions migrate.

6) and electrical current helps move the dyes through the gel.

7) Smaller molecules get more excited and move faster and farther. Larger molecules get less excited and move slower and less far.

8) They would separate in the following order from closest to farthest: 600, 1000, 2000, 5000.

New Year Goals

1) I will do my homework the day it is assigned rather than the night before to feel less stressed. I will do this by making better use of tutorials to get ahead on work and not using "I didn't have time" as an excuse.

2) I will not distract myself when doing homework and I'll finish it fast so that I can get to bed at a good time, and therefore be happier and more energized when I come to school the next day.