Unit 6 Reflection

The beginning of this unit was about biotechnology, which is the study and manipulation of living things to benefit mankind, and it generally focuses on DNA, proteins, and inheritance. We also learned about the four applications of biotechnology which are industrial and environmental, medical/pharmaceutical, diagnostic research, and agricultural. Examples of the applications are fermentation(industrial and environmental), gene therapy(medical/pharmaceutical), transgenic organisms and classical breeding(agricultural), and genetic testing(diagnostic). Next, we learned about the technologies of biotechnology which are the Polymerase Chain Reaction(PCR), which is a procedure to amplify a specific DNA region, and Gel Electrophoresis which uses electricity to separate DNA fragments based on their sizes. After we learned about recombinant DNA technology which is inserting the DNA of one organism into the DNA of another organism. Finally we learned about bioethics, which is the study of decision-making as it applies to moral decisions that are made because of the advances in biology, technology, and medicine. 

When we first learned about recombinant DNA I didn't understand the functions and what the recombinant DNA was until we went over it in class. I think that overall I understand more than when I first learned about the topics because we got to discuss about them during class. During this unit we did two labs which were the pGLO Lab and the Candy Electrophoresis Lab. From these experiences I learned about how people would tend to use articificial coloring and other things in order to make their product seem better, even though it may not be good for you compared to something that is made from natural products. I also learned about other applications for genetic engineering and what pGLO is used for currently. One thing that I would want to learn more about would be about why certain products are genetically modified. Currently I have improved in one of my goals, which was improving on my studying habits. The next things that I want to do is continue to improve on participating in my classes and spend more time studying than I am now.

pGLO Lab Analysis

Plate Number of Colonies Color of colonies under room light Color of colonies under   UV light - pGLO LB 0 none none - pGLO LB/amp 0 none none + pGLO LB/amp 39 white none + pGLO LB/amp/ara 31 white bright green, glowing

	The two new traits that our transformed bacteria had was that under UV light that colonies glowed and it was resistant to ampicillin. I think that in the 100 uL of bacteria that we spread on the plate there was about 30 million bacteria, because you usually have to look through microscopes in order to see one bacteria. So probably many bacteria could fit in that single colony. The role of arabinose in the plates was that the bacteria would only glow if it was present. In the website addgene.org, three current uses for GFP(green fluorescent protein) are fusion tagging, protein purification, and biosensors. Other applications for genetic engineering are producing insulin and human growth hormones.

Bioethics Reading Extra Credit

The article that I chose is Mammoths are a huge part of my life. But cloning them is wrong. The topic was about whether we should attempt to clone mammoths because we think that is would be interesting to see an animal that is similar to a mammoth or whether we shouldn't because we could risk endangering the Asian elephant species even more by trying to clone a mammoth. In the article, Scientists Want to Bring Back Woolly Mammoths — But Why?, it stated how it would be fascinating to be able to see a mammoth because it was a animal that became extinct a long time ago. But to clone a mammoth it would require having to experiment or use Asian elephants as surrogates for an animal that has a similar ancestor but it may turn out to be unsuccessful which could endanger the species even more than it is now. In another article, Woolly Mammoth Clones Closer Than Ever, Thanks to Genome Sequencing, it mentioned at the end how if we could splice the DNA of mammoths into the cells of Asian elephants, it could help creatures to live in colder areas and to reduce human conflict. 

The benefits of this would be that we would be able to change animals DNA so that they would be able to live in colder areas away from humans. The potential risks of this is that it could endanger the Asian elephants even more and it may be something that may never work because they have to find a way to get eggs from the elephants and put it in a surrogate in order to clone a mammoth. 

I believe that we shouldn't attempt to clone a mammoth because there are more risks in order to clone one. One thing is that it could endanger a species even more, and if the attempt to clone one is unsuccessful it would be a waste of experimenting and using a species that may later become extinct. Second, I believe that even though mammoths are a creature that we are fascinated by because they existed a long time ago, we shouldn't try to clone one because it would be interesting to see an animal close to what a mammoth looks like. 

Works cited-

"Woolly Mammoth Clones Closer Than Ever, Thanks to Genome Sequencing." Live Science, 2 July 2015, www.livescience.com/51424-woolly-mammoth-genome-sequenced.html.

"Scientists Want to Bring Back Woolly Mammoths — But Why?" NBC NEWS, 22 May 2016, www.nbcnews.com/
news/world/scientists-want-bring-back-woolly-mammoths-why-n575581.

Candy Electrophoresis Lab

When we analyzed the results of the lab, one of our experimental samples contained a different dye that didn't match the reference dyes. I think that the Fast Green FCF would migrate similarly to the dyes that we examined in this lab, because I think it is negatively charged which was like the samples that we used which were the dyes from candies. I think that dog food manufacturers put artificial food coloring in dog foods because it may be quicker and easier and more pleasant to look at than having something that takes long to make or something that doesn't look appealing. I think that artificial colors are more preferable than natural food colors because maybe the colors make it more appealing than natural food colors and it is easier to use and get. 

The two factors that controlled the distance the colored dye solutions migrated were the charges from the gel electrophoresis chamber and how the dyes from the candies charges. The force that helped move the dyes through the gel was electricity. The component of the electrophoresis system that caused the molecules to separate by size was the agarose in the gel, because the dyes were placed in the wells in the gel so it made the molecules of the dyes separate after the electrophoresis chamber was turned on. I expect that DNA molecules with molecular weights of 600, 1000, 2000, and 5000 daltons would separate the same as the dyes that we used but it probably won't move as quickly or travel as far as the dyes that we experimented with during this lab.

New Year Goals

One of my goals for this semester is to improve on my studying habits by having someone test me on certain topics and make flashcards or using Quizlet to help me understand a certain word or phrase better. I could also look through the information that we learned and see which topic I had a harder time on and focus more on it. I could also have one of my family members help quiz me on topics and I could make myself a practice quiz that would be similar to the format of the tests that we have to do.

Another goal for this semester is to participate more in some of my classes. For one of my classes I could try to participate at least once every week and after I get comfortable I would start to participate at least two times every week or occasionally for one week I would only participate once and the next week I would participate twice. For another class I want to try to talk during class discussions at least four times this semester, because in the previous semester I didn't talk at all during class discussions except for when we had to go into smaller groups for activities.