Have you ever wondered how to make a gel? Fortunately, I have a magical procedure for you. Ah, yes a procedure that may not make your hair slick again, but can make your DNA look slick in the chemistry lab!
This morning, I walked through the looming doors of Dabney hall to greet my first objective: create a gel solution. For Jessie,making this gel solution was important so that she could test the presence of Toly 1 - psynb inside the solution of DNA she had created earlier. To create the gel solution we used 30 mL of a special buffer and agarose. Agarose is a substance made from agar and is used specially in gels for electrophoresis. The use of Agarose gel electrophoresis is the most effective way for Jessi to separate the DNA fragments she wanted. Moreover, before we started the procedure, Jessi allowed me to create a master mix of the restrictive enzymes and buffer. The restriction enzymes were used to digest the DNA molecule and along with the agarose gel help analyze the fragments of DNA for Jessie. To separate DNA using gel electrophoresis, Jessi loaded the DNA into pre-cast wells into the gel and applied a current. Because the phosphate backbone of the DNA molecule is negatively charged, when the current was applied the DNA fragments moved to the positive charged side of the field, which was the agarose gel and buffer prepared before. Moreover, since agarose polymers are known to create a matrix of small pores, the smaller DNA molecules, were able to navigate through the mesh faster than the larger molecules. Thus, through this process, Jessi was able to separate the different DNA molecules she wanted by their size.
Procedure and calculations for creating gel and master mix
Whew that was a lot of science! Fortunately, there was lots of downtime between experiments for Jessi to share some fun facts, tips, and tricks for handling life in a chemistry lab! Below is the list I have compiled for today.
Did you know that chemists face the same struggle as teenagers at home? They also have to wash and clean! However instead of your parents watching over you, Jessi recollected that "her boss often enjoys to stroll around the chemistry lab and ensure every piece of lab equipment is spick and span". But perhaps, your boss hasn't checked your workplace for two weeks - do not worry for NC STATE's own safety department will randomly check to ensure you are in line!
Have you ever waited 30 minutes or perhaps even an hour for your salt to dissolve in your solution? Don't worry Jessi has an innovative solution that will cut that time to precisely one minute and 30 seconds: stick your solution in the microwave!
After lunch and the quick tip session, the electrophoresis was finally completed. Jessi showed me the finished product under a UV light. Although, I currently do not completely understand the method by which the UV light was used to analyze the DNA, Jessi concluded that that the DNA tested positive and that we will do a ligation reaction tomorrow!
Analysis of DNA under ultraviolet light
We may have not created a gel for your hair today, but we did create a gel that could be at the center of some revolutionary research - stay tuned for more!
