This is the first independent project in Cary Academy ADV Biotechnology. Consider watching this video and commenting to provide feedback. Please focus on the science, information-explanation, and/or the video production. At the end of the video, the students ask questions to the viewers. Citations can be found on a separate document underneath the video or within the video.
Citations: citations_sickle_cell
Very good: The explanation of Sickle cell anemia/Malaria, primer design process, experimental design, and understanding of the mutation type.
Video Production: The video quality needs work. The audio is uneven and hard to hear at times with hissing in the background. As well, when Thalassemia is explained, the video shows an image depicting Malaria. This is confusing. The primers were not circled on the slide when the narrator says that the primers were circled. Next steps: It is now time to add your final gel images with a results section describing PCR (Master Mix), PCR cycle, and electrophoresis. Even if you did not complete the Restriction Enzyme digest- at least the PCR product can be shown with the corresponding ladder, etc. It is important that you describe your challenges with PCR.
Science: 1.) Although you are amplifying the HBB gene and can check the amplicon using a restriction enzyme digest- how would you test for the SNP resulting in sickle cell anemia? What would be your experimental design for this? 2.) What is the 3D structure of the HBB gene product and how does it change with the amino acid substitution? 3.) What is the current testing procedure for sickle cell anemia? Feel free to include a short snippet of your interview audio.
Thank you again for your critique of our video, Dr. Todd. It is obvious that the sound quality isn’t great and we will make sure that it gets fixed in our video. Your comments on fixing the circled primers and the slide about Malaria were something that we didn’t notice but need to fix. Your ideas for things to add to our video are good, and would really demonstrate our experiment better. I will be sure to ask our interview if we can include a snippet of his comments in our video. We don’t know the new 3D structure after the amino acids substitution, could you help us learn about that?
Thanks again,
Michael
Video production- Audio quality was poor during several segments of video. Your choice of graphics was excellent. You provided sources on each slide. Introduce malaria as a disease and then describe how sickle-cell trait protects an individual from malaria. Consider posting questions on slide in addition to verbalizing so viewer can reflect on them. Tables and charts you presented in choosing your primer set were excellent.
Thank you for your critique of our video. We are aware that the sound quality isn’t great in our video, and that will be a major focus on our revised video. Writing out the questions is another good suggestion that we will change too.
Thanks,
Michael
1. I had problems with the audio at times.
2. Male voice was easier to hear as the female voice was quit soft and that is not a criticism of the female voice it is that that needs consideration in presentation.
3. You may have prepared paper BUT work on a fluid delivery
4. Color highlights on slides to sort important areas out was excellent
5. References of data source on slides was excellent
6. Comment on primer being the best you had available was very significant. It shows that you realize your limits in the work. It tells us that you know more work is needed.
7. Post questions for viewer to see.
8. You two have done a superior job of intergrating complex science concepts and video presentation. Your work is better than most undergrads in science could do. Carry on, you did a great job and looked at a very significant human disease.
Hello Mr. Bill!
My partner and I did have some problems with the audio, next time we would spend more time editing the audio problems, and re-recording sections that had fluidity and volume issues. We also didn’t realize that the questions would be answered easiest if they were written out. To clarify, our questions are below. Thank you very much for your time, constructive critiques and kind comments!
– Danielle
1. Do you have any suggestions in improving our primer locating process?
2. Do you know of any other single gene mutation similar to Sickle Cell such that it provides immunity for another disease.
3. Do different types of hemoglobin result in different symptoms of Sickle Cell?
4. How soon will gene therapy be used as a cure for Sickle Cell?
Do you have any knowledge on how QPCR should be used to diagnose Sickle Cell?