This unit was about the technologies in biology and their different applications in everyday life. Biotechnology is the study of the manipulation of living things and how they are changed in order to benefit mankind. The four applications of biotechnology are: industrial and environmental; agricultural; medical; and diagnostic research. Despite the many benefits that these four applications have given to mankind, there are many questions that are posed about the bioethics of gene manipulation and weather they fit our values and morals as a species. This part of biotechnology is important since scientists are constantly creating organisms and making different discoveries, but weather the applications of these discoveries the moral thing is something that must always be asked in science that changes the natural order of things. We also learned about recombinant genes, and how they are used to mass produce and create bacteria with a desired protein to be extracted. This involves extracting a gene using a restriction enzymes, inserting it into a plasmid, and mass producing the plasmid in order to create and extract the protein that is created from the gene. The three main technologies used in biotech are Polymerase Chain Reactions (PCR), Gel Electrophoresis, and DNA Sequencing. The process of PCR is to denature strands of DNA with heat, add a primer to specific DNA sequences, and to use DNA polymerase to read the DNA and mass produce it, creating multiple copies for analysis. Gel electrophoresis is when DNA is placed into a gel and ran through with a an electrical current, which separates the DNA by size and allows for them to be more easily analyzed. DNA sequencing is used to determine the exact sequence of a gene and uses DNA polymerase and dyes to allow a computer to read it and analyze it. This was a fast paced unit and I had a hard time understanding some of the concepts until we did the labs, which gave us hands on experience and allowed us to truly see how the technologies are used and their applications in real life.
We did three labs in this unit which all helped me understand the concepts behind the different technologies. In the Recombinant DNA lab, we used paper models to help us understand the role of restriction enzymes and how they cut plasmids and DNA to allow them to combine together. In the Candy Electrophoresis Lab, we ran different dyes in candy through a gel electrophoresis and analyzed them next to sample dyes, which helped us understand how gel electrophoresis is used and how it separates DNA by size. In the pGLO Lab, we did the replication and combing part of Recombinant DNA, by combining DNA and plasmids through a process of cooling and heating and then mass producing the plasmids inside of bacteria to see how they are actually created and combined.
Links to Labs:
I want to learn more about the industrial applications of biotechnology, since we learned about the diagnostic and medical applications through the pGLO lab and how that technology can be used to mass produce insulin and other medicines and how gel electrophoresis can be used to study DNA, but not about how biotechnology can be used in the industrial setting.
My goals from the
New Years were to gain a 4.0 GPA in the second semester and to final in at least one speech and debate tournament by the end of the second year. I have yet to complete the first goal, but am making good progress towards the goal. The second goal is also incomplete but I have come very close in many tournaments, I need to continue practicing and become more knowledgeable on the analysis of current events in order to complete this goal and achieve future success.
Recombinant DNA Lab
Gel Electrophoresis Lab
pGLO Lab
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