It's time

It's about time I can start on my project. Matt just gave me the okay today since he had to figure out what type of protocol I needed to use and also all of the materials I will be using are here. This Friday I will begin going over the protocol with Matt and deciding on what food I would like to extract DNA from. Hopefully by tomorrow I will be able to begin extracting DNA from multiple plants so that I may run it with the "Wizard" kit that was purchased. The process after extracting the DNA should run somewhat smoothly since I have done PCR's and Electrophoresis numerous times it should be relatively easy. Later on as I perfect my protocol I will be able to run different types of food ranging from cafeteria food or something from the vending machine to identify the presence of CAMV35S.

(Exploratorium.edu)

Protocol?

Since most of the materials that I need aren't here yet, I started researching a way to extract the DNA from my food samples. There is a vast amount of protocols that state what needs to be done in order to extract DNA from plants and it's very difficult to pick just one. I had a discussion with Matt about what I should do because the protocol that he had sent me earlier wasn't something that I could use, well I could use it but there needed to be some changes. All the materials were ordered and should be on their way thanks to Matt. Jervana has also been waiting for the same materials since we are doing practically the same experiment I feel Jervana's eagerness to receive them.

(Courtesy of SOPACHEM.com)

What is a GMO?

GMO stands for “Genetically Modified Organism” most commonly found in plants and animals. Plants and animals are genetically altered by scientist to improve the ability for it to grow in various environments, resist pest, tolerate extreme weather, Produce more food, or show desired traits. GMO’s are like system updates on your computer, making a new version of that specific plant or animal in a lab. This semester I will be working on isolating DNA from various foods and running it through a PCR to detect foreign DNA, since most of the transgenic crops contain a CaMV35S promoter it offers a good target for DNA testing. CaMV35S promoter is derived from the phytopathogenic cauliflower mosaic virus.

Well!

It's that time again when we start going to our internships. Even though this past couples of weeks have been kind of stressful because of classes I have the task of organizing my time so that I'm able to participate in the S-STEM discussions and also getting to my internship on time for 9hr/week. I went to robotics today to help out Josh (Lab Supervisor) with the new robotics people and to also get some work done. This year's game Toss up sounds quite exciting. Below is a video describing this year’s game and hopefully we will get 1^st place.