This morning, we presented our slideshows on rare diseases to the class. Our group researched Progeria, which is a disease in which children begin showing symptoms that are typically seen in older people, like arthritis and alopecia. Cardiothoracic disease, hypoplasia, micrognathia, and skin abnormalities are also very common in patients with Progeria. After we learned about each groups’ rare disease, we performed a restriction enzyme digest in order to cut DNA. After about an hour (lunchtime), we used the DNA to run a gel with micropipettes after staining it blue. The stain will help us see the strands of DNA and the different lengths of them as they flow through the gel. The strands farthest away from the wells in which we dropped the solution will be the smallest pieces, because the smallest pieces travel the quickest.
After lunch, the class used our colonies from the previous bacteria transformation experiment to isolate one single colony from the many that were on our ++ plate. Everyone used their own personal plate and followed a specific pattern to spread the bacteria with a nichrom wire. Before isolating the bacteria, we had to completely disinfect the area to make sure our plates would not be cross contaminated. We cleaned our areas with spic and span and followed by using alcohol on the surface. Each station was also equipped with ethanol and a Bunsen burner to sterilize the nichrom wire between each person’s spreading.
Here is a video of us cloning a bacteria colony that was grown from a past experiment:
