Biotechnology Unit Review

The purpose of biotechnology is to make life easier for us, by manipulating living things. There are four types of biotech: Industrial and Environmental, Agricultural, Medical and Pharmaceutical, and Diagnostic Research. This unit also covered polymerase chain reactions which is the duplication of DNA with added information or primers, as well as gel electrophoresis and bio-ethics. The labs were definitely confusing but the whole idea of bioethics was incredibly interesting because it was more about people and values. I really have to crack down and study on PCR and all our labs before the test because I definitely need a better understanding of the process and objective itself.

I learned more about genetically modified food and since people are always talking about GMOs it was cool to finally learn what eating genetically modified food meant. I also learned about PGLO and that it has many properties and can grow only in specific mixtures. I still need to work on understanding the PGLO lab but at least I know what PGLO means and that is an improvement from not knowing anything.

Here is our Gel electrophoresis lab: 

This is our PGLO lab under normal room light:

PGLO Lab Analysis

pGLO Observations , Data Recording & Analysis

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 none none none + pGLO LB/amp 37 grayish yellow white + pGLO LB/amp/ara 28 Greyish yellow Fluorescent yellow/ green

2.	What two new traits do your transformed bacteria have?
	They clump together in colonies and they have a fuzzy border around them and some have more lots of clear colonies but some have a mushy colony.
3.	Estimate how many bacteria were in the 100 uL of bacteria that you spread on each plate. Explain your logic.
	It would be impossible to count exactly how much bacteria there is because live bacteria is constantly growing and expanding but if we moved one colony then I approximate that there was 100 plus live bacteria samples transferred.
4.	What is the role of arabinose in the plates?
	I believe the arabinose acts as a culture for the bacteria to help improve growth and promote the increase in bacteria sample.
5.	List and briefly explain three current uses for GFP (green fluorescent protein) in research or applied science.
	GFP can be used in military science as a glow in the dark mechanism for underwater exploration. It can be used to make glow sticks and those collars for dogs and people to keep them safe in the dark. It’s a hard question because GFP by itself is just a protein sample from a jellyfish, but maybe it can be used to insert in animals or people to make them glow in the dark.
6.	Give an example of another application of genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is the manipulation of genes and an example of that would be genetically modified food. Food that has had been altered and manipulated for maximum harvest counts as genetic engineering and is a common form of biotechnology.

Gel Electrophoresis Lab

When we analyzed the gel, there were  only a little difference from our reference dye and candy extracted dye. It was mainly color wise, but even so, it was by a couple of shades. The dyes stayed together for the most part, however the yellow managed to spread and cross the red dye. I think the dye that resembles the dyes we used would be the Fast Green FCF since the dyes we had migrated up and down and seemed to spread out from the side.

The main enticement for the sale of food items is how they look. If a hunk of meat looks rotten or grey, people simply wont buy it. In the sale of dog food, it doesn't matter to the dog how it looks; they are color blind, however, for people, the look of the food in their house or their dogs diet is incredibly important and so dog food companies invest in making the food more appetizing not for the dog, but for the human instead. Even the food that human eat, if mac and cheese is defined by the orange/ yellow cheese even if it is chemically based. 

The two things that control the migration of DNA is the electricity and the buffers acting on the gel. The electricity is the thing that acts on the DNA and causes it to move up the gel floor. The DNA groups by size of the dye and groups by their size automatically after adding electricity. I believe DNA with molecular weights in Daltons move and separate by size and weight. The 600s stay with the 600s and the 1000s with the 1000s and so forth.

New Year Goals

This semester I will plan on world domination. Just joking, in biology I want to like the class. I don't understand biology in a whole, therefore i am unable to appreciate the class, but by taking the time to go back and mentally tell myself, this is interesting, I hope I can like the class more.

Another goal is to get better at basketball and field hockey. I will be able to shoot anywhere on the court and make it as well as handle the ball like I can do it in my sleep. I will be able to dominate on defense and get strong enough to fight for rebounds and steals. In field hockey, I will be able to control the ball better and maneuver around defenders, which I can not do currently. I can work on both sports by practicing and not giving up even when it would be so easy to do so.