The Struggle

Well this past week hasn't been all that easy for me going back and forth on what I want to do. I have been an intern here at phoenix college for about two years now which is a very long time. Currently I have no clue if I want to continue this internship so I spoke with Amanda. I'm currently trying to find something that I'm passionate about which I have yet to find. It's a big struggle for me to find something which I am passionate about. I have done a wide range of jobs, internships, and volunteer work solely for the purpose of finding something that is interesting to me. Even though I'm in this dilemma I will strive to do my best with everything, don't get me wrong I love being in the Biosciences department but I think I may need a change of environment or maybe I'm just freaking out and there is nothing to worry about.

Electrophoresis

Well last week I began my DNA extraction protocol and found it quite easy to do, or so I thought. When the time came to using the Wizard kit it was difficult to follow the protocol that came with the kit so I was asking Matt tons of questions regarding how to use it. After a while of going back and forth with Matt I was able to write a protocol in my own words. At first it took me quite some time to get used to the process but I believe that after a while I will be able to do it in a much faster pace since everything is practically repetitive. Tomorrow I will be running my extracted DNA though a gel to find out if I have any type of DNA present in my sample. When that is complete I will be running the rest of my sample through a PCR machine.

CaMV 35S

CaMV stands for Cauliflower Mosaic Virus which is a pararetrovirus (reverse transcribing viruses because they replicate through an RNA intermediate) that infect plants. Pararetrovirus replicate through reverse transcription (Creates single stranded DNA from an RNA) but the viral particles contain DNA instead of RNA. CaMV induces a variety of systemic symptoms such as mosaic (irregular leaf mottling), necrotic lesions on leaf surface, stunted growth, and deformation of the overall plant structure. Basically scientist modified this horrible virus to make it easier for them to infect a plant with a genetic mutation to alter the state in which the plant will grow into. CaMV 35S is used in most transgenic crops to activate foreign genes which have been artificially inserted into the plant. This enables the plant to operate in a wide range of host-organism environments which otherwise not be possible.

(The Science Creative Quarterly)

 

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.