Throughout the biotechnological unit, I was very excited, as this science is one of my favorites. This unit consisted of a variety of topics, being such that biotechnology is very versatile in the scientific field, relating to other fields such as the agricultural or the mining field. However, biotechnology also taps into bioethics, which consist of moral biotechnological decisions in which controversial topics are discussed which challenge general morals.
We worked on some interesting labs in this unit, ranging from utilizing the process of gel electrophoresis to producing genetically engineered bacteria, all in the small workspace of our classroom. In our groups, we experimented and found that in order to produce our glowing bacteria, we would have to insert plasmids into the bacteria through a freezing process, which is shortly followed by a sudden heat shock. In the gel electrophoresis lab, we learned how to compare known DNA fields to unknown DNA fields, allowing us to look at what substances are made of.
Although the biotechnology unit was really interesting, I would like to know more about the field, curious on what other uses biotechnological organisms have in real life. I also wonder how people debate on how science is progressing currently, and what we should do about it, in relation to bioethics. However, this unit was very interesting in the fact that we as humans can manipulate almost anything to our advantage.
