pGlo Lab 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 0 0 0 - pGLO LB/amp 0 0 0 + pGLO LB/amp 0 0 0 + pGLO LB/amp/ara 6 6 6

2.	What two new traits do your transformed bacteria have?
	The transformed bacteria now glow green in ultraviolet light, and are immune to ampicillin, an antibiotic.
3.	Estimate how many bacteria were in the 100 uL of bacteria that you spread on each plate. Explain your logic.
	I think that the bacteria multiplied to 600uL at least, being that there were six colonies coming from one.
4.	What is the role of arabinose in the plates?
	To give the bacteria energy in order to glow.
5.	List and briefly explain three current uses for GFP (green fluorescent protein) in research or applied science.
	-Vector for genetically modified organisms. -Used to make organisms fluorescent. -Used to make organisms ampicillin resistant.
6.	Give an example of another application of genetic engineering.

                 Genetically making an identical copy of an organism; cloning.

Candy Electrophoresis Lab

        Throughout the following lab, our group was tasked with the identification of chemicals in food coloring dyes found in most candies. In fact, we found that most dyes were different lengths when compared to the reference dyes, with the yellow band being slightly blue after, so much so being blue and yellow at the same time. The orange dye moved toward the cathode slightly.
        Most of the dyes in this lab can be compared to some other dye structures, such as beatnin, a red dye, and carminic acid, which both have longer strands than other dyes. However, the dyes in this lab would not be comparable to dye structures such as FCF, or Citrus red 2.
        Many dyes are put not only in our food, but in dog food as well. Many consumers do this in order to make the product look more appealing to the customer, as the dog eating the food has no preference. Sadly, this process works, boosting sales more a reasonably profitable amount.
        In the lab, factors controlling the distance of migration of the colored dye solutions included the voltage, as well as the centrifuge time.Voltage also helps move the dyes through the gel in the electrophoresis process. I, however, believe that the buffer is responsible for the fact of DNA molecules separating by size. On the other hand, a more powerful chemical might be used in order to break down DNA molecules with molecular weights of 600, 1000, 2000, and 5000 daltons.

New Year Goals: Spring Semester

        Throughout the previous semester, I found myself struggling at first, early into the school year, but eventually gained ground and adjusted to the curriculum that plagued me in the past. This struggle has allowed me to grow, and gives me the opportunity to plan out the next semester, and the rest of my years in high school. Even though most of my work for all of my classes is finished by the time that it is due, the process that I went through to finish it is usually not efficient, taking me multiple hours of extra time trying to finish my jumbled mess of assignments, projects, and self made study sheets.
        This drives me to organize my time more during this semester, as I truly believe that this can save me countless hours in the void that is homework and preparation for upcoming exams. This can be accomplished with my using of earlier resources in class, including the studying habits sheets that I have gotten from multiple different teachers, old and new. In fact, a new studying set up for me could be vital for my education, as the one I use currently is full of distractions.
        This, however, branches into another topic that I will work on, which is participation in class, which goes into not only raising hands and giving answers. While in most of my classes I am quiet and wait for instructions, I do tend to talk more than usual, especially in this class currently. I regret this, however, and will work on this effectively throughout this semester, trying to not get distracted. Although this goal is worth reaching to me, I believe that I cannot prepare for this goal in any way, mostly because you simply cannot prepare for this, but instead have to just put in the effort.
        With these goals in mind, I will work on not getting distracted in general, ranging from at home distractions to in class distractions. Although my behavior and work ethic might not be the best right now when compared to my overall performance in tests and exams, I hope to change that, not only preparing me for the now, but for later, when I am older.