Season 7 Reflection
The concept of Genetics is often labeled as a topic that focuses on learning about the DNA and genes found in the human body. To be honest, Genetics has not always been a topic of science I have liked because of the focus on the human body placed when learning about genetics. However, this season, I found out that genetics not only fascinates me but also directly connects to the major I wish to pursue in college- food science or nutrition.
My favorite lab by far has to be the pGLO lab. When we started the pGLO lab I thought that I would not be able to accomplish the lab because of how complicated the processes seamed. However, once my fellow lab partners and I started the lab, I realized how much I actually knew. For example, I remembered my micropipette skills and remembered how much fun they are to use. Overall, I would say that I love this lab because we were able to literally make bacteria glow! We took E. Coli Bacteria and mixed the bacteria with a pQuince plasmid. A Plasmid is a ring of DNA typically from a different organism that is absorbed by a bacteria in order to change the DNA of the original organism. The pQuince plasmid contained GFP (Green Fluorescent Protein) gene and the regulatory gene for GFP, Ara. An origin gene was also added so that the DNA start could replicate. And finally, the Amp gene was added to make the bacteria that would absorb pQuince ampicillin resistant. In order to increase the chances of the bacteria absorbing the plasmid, the bacteria have to undergo heat shock so that little pore could be created. In our conclusions, we found that the bacteria that was able to grow and glow was on the agar plate with ampicillin, lysogeny broth, and arabinose sugar.
This season, I also enjoyed learning about biotechnology especially biotechnology found and used in agriculture. The topic that stood out to me the most was Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) because GMOs directly connect to Food Science. I learned that GMOs are created by taking the DNA of one organism and adding that DNA to the DNA of the target organism in order to improve that organism. What fascinated me the most about GMOs is that scientists are now able to change the DNA of crops so that they can grow in conditions they could not before. For example, in my group project on Agriculture Applications, we talk about how, in India, crops such as rice have are being genetically modified to be able to grow in the high salinity waters. India is a country that has minimal food sources so GMOs can benefit their health. Check out more of my presentation below!
This season, I learned a lot about genetics and I discovered a new topic that interests me. I am excited to see where the next season on Evolution goes and beyond that, I am excited to see where science will take me in the future!
Work Cited
Lab photo taken by me.
No comments:
Post a Comment