GMOs RIGHT OR WRONG

      GMOs or Gentically Modified Organisms are organisms that have been given genes that change them in some way. GMOs are used today all over the world for many different reasons. GMOs can be created to boost the productivity of crops. For example you can put a frost resistant gene in a tomato and the tomato will be able to thrive even in colder weather therefore increasing the amount of tomatos created since none of them die in the cold. GMOs are made by inserting the GOI (gene of interest) into a plasmid (usually a tumor inducing plasmid) then inserting that plasmid into the cells of a plant which allows the plasmid to become part of the plants DNA.  There is controversy about  GMOs because people are afraid of the unknown and because there are some potentially dangerous aspects about GMOs. GMOs can increase the chance of the consumer having an allergic reaction to the GM food. People are also afraid of tinkering with evolution and creating things that don't occur naturally. Also there is a risk of reducing the diversity of all plants and therefore leaving ourselves open to potential disaster.  You can identify if a plant is GM by using the PCR method. The PCR method identifies the segment of DNA that is used to insert the GOI into the plants DNA. In this lab we are trying to identify GM plants by using the PCR method. This test can be used in the real world by consumers who are interested in knowing if their food has been GM. Before we can use the PCR method we must extract the DNA from the cell. We can accomplish this by crushing the plant and breaking the cell walls then inserting Instagene which kills DNAse so that the DNA is not destroyed. We then put it into a water bath in order provide a stable enviroment for Instagene. We put the resulting mixture through the PCR method. This will create more copies of the target DNA. Then we insert the results into the gel for electrophoresis. This will tell us if the target sequence is there and if the plant has been GM. At the same time we have a control that will target a common gene in the plant in order to make sure that the test is working. I think that the plant that we will have will most likley be GM since they are very common in grocery stores.

And on the 8th day God Made Glowing Bacteria

      A gene is a piece of DNA which provides the genetic codes for a protein. This protein then gives the organism a certain trait. A plasmid is a DNA molecule that is separate from the chromosomal DNA. Plasmids are usually circular and are transferable genetic elements. In this lab we will be moving genes from one organism to another using a plasmid. Using genes to change an organisms traits is called genetic transformation. In the real world genetic transformation is used in many fields of biotechnology. One example is insulin which is created by placing the insulin gene into bacteria then harvesting the insulin created. We will be taking the gene that makes a jellyfish glow and will move it into a bacteria which should then also glow. We will be taking the gene that codes for Green Fluorescent Protein from a jellyfish and then transfer it to bacteria. This should cause the bacteria to produce the GFP and to glow like a jellyfish.