Thursday, November 21, 2013

This is great :(

Well this is great, Last week I came to find out that one of the refrigerators in DB 107 broke down and with out knowing I continued to the next part in my experiment. As I finished making my PCR master mix I got up and begun to look for my DNA extraction samples that I had left in the fridge, as I opened the fridge it was completely empty which was strange, I searched for Matt to ask him if he had moved or seen my samples which then he followed by saying oh! your samples were in there? I was disappointed when he informed me that the fridge had broken down sometime last week and no one noticed until a couple days later when everything on the inside had gone to waste. Now I have to extract the same DNA again so I can proceed to running my PCR. Hopefully I am able to get it done quickly so that I may get results fast.

Friday, November 15, 2013

Protocol

PCR protocol:
PCR mix
DNA 1μl
Primer 1 2μl
Primer 2 2μl
Master mix 12μl
DNase free H2O 7μl
Total= 25μl

Cycle
1. 95°c for 3 minutes
2. 95°c for 30 seconds
3. 58°c for 40 seconds                  Repeat 2-4 35times
4. 72°c for 1 minutes
5. 72°c for 10 minutes
6. Hold at 12°c 

Well that's my PCR protocol with the cycles included but we might need to recalculate one of the temperatures because it was just and educated guess. This week we had our rough draft for our research paper due and I found it quite difficult to accomplish since I don't have any results that can help me with my conclusion but I was however able to finish part if it. Last year when I wrote my first research paper it was quite easy because I had all this information in my head and all the results it was just a matter of putting it all together, now don't get me wrong I don't think it was the best paper ever but it was a pretty good first try. Next week I will be getting some results from my project and hopefully I will be able to revise my paper and make it even better.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

PCR

Currently I have 4 plants that I have extracted DNA. With those four samples I am now able to run it through the PCR to amplify the DNA the only problem is that I have no protocol for the PCR yet. The protocol is currently a work in progress as well as getting the primers ready since the primers come dry (As in they look like a powder). I know Jervana is also eager to get those things as well. As soon as I get them I will begin my PCR and hopefully yield promising results. I almost forgot that this week I am suppose to have 90 hours completed for S-STEM and I am a bit behind on that so now I will have to be at lab for a while to catch up. The picture below is how I feel right now with all the stress of classes and work.
(iFunny)