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To conclude our unit on genetics, students will be engaging in an amazing transgenics lab. Students will take a DNA plasmid extracted from a jellyfish and insert it into the DNA of bacteria, designing a new species of bacteria which manufactures a protein that fluoresces under UV light and would otherwise not exist in the wild. Our students are getting an authentic look at how genetic scientists are using new technologies to create treatments (and hopefully someday even cures) for diseases such as diabetes, hemophilia, and sickle cell anemia to name a few.

The jellyfish we will be stealing DNA from is the Aequorea victoria. This awesome bioluminescent jellyfish actually glows in the dark thanks to its genes for GFP, or Green Florescent Protein. To check out what we'll be doing this week, click on the pGlo Transformation Student Manual.

Posted by Ms. Larkin