Moms Are More Important Than You Think

All humans have 46 chromosomes, this comprises and individualizes their DNA.  But there is also a different kind of DNA in every person, mitochondrial DNA.  This DNA is not a combination of your mom and dads genes, this DNA comes directly and only from your mom.  Mitochondria contain this type of DNA and within each mitochondria there are multiple copies of their individual genome.  The genome consists of 37 genes that the mom contributes to their child.  This means that the only way for there to be genetic variation in the mitochondrial DNA is through genetic mutations. 

Mitochondria are one of the essential organelles in a cell.  The mitochondrial DNA is involved with the production of energy and its storage as ATP.  The mitochondrial DNA's genome was mapped long before the human genome project, it was mapped in 1981.  By following the passing on of mitochondrial DNA scientists can conclude when our last known common ancestor was.  They concluded that the common ancestor of all man derived from a woman (mitochondrial Eve) born around 200,000 years ago in Africa.

After our results from the PCR and gel electrophoresis we concluded that we all have mitochondrial DNA.  It was cool to see because I had the darkest band out of our table so I argued that they are not true people.  Naddy got angry and it was great.  But in the end we found through this lab that we all have mitochondrial DNA in our bodies showing that it is different from the DNA we have obtained in labs in the past.

 Look at that gorgeous dark band in the second row. That is me proving I have superior DNA to the rest of my table.

i like to poop

- Nathan Meyer Vance

Let's Find Out Who is Diseased

DNA testing is now used worldwide to discover a person's own genetic code. This can be used for many applications, but the main one is for genetic testing.  Genetic testing can tell a person whether or not they have the gene that may be diseased or may cause disease.  This is a complicated issue as some people would not wish to know their genome and how their genes are set up, but others think it will make their lives easier to know if they will develop diseases such as parkinsons or alzheimers. 
In this lab we will use DNA extraction to analyze our DNA for the "diseased gene".  First we will have to extract our DNA, and for this experiment we will use our cheek cells.  To do this we will have to break open the cell membrane using a hot water bath of 95 degrees Celcius.  Then once we have opened the membrane we will use DNAse to kill all outside bacteria DNA.  But to stop the DNAse from killing our own DNA we will insert instagene matrix beads to kill the DNAse.  On Day 2 of the lab we will mass produce our DNA using PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction).  The first step of PCR is the denaturation step, in this step the reaction mixture is heated to 94 degrees Celcius for one minute which seperates the double stranded DNA into single strands of DNA.  Then the annealing step takes place, in this step the primers find their complementary sequences on the two single-stranded template strands of DNA.  This step is done at 60 degrees Celcius for maximum production.  Finally, the extension step occurs, in this step the DNA polymerase will add nucleotides to the primer creating a complementary copy of the DNA template.  This final step occurs at 72 degrees Celcius.
After we ran the gel electrophoresis we analyzed our results comparing our results to the control gel.  We found out that our entire table had the diseased gene.  Being diseased wasn't worrisome becuase we found out that the gene we were testing for was an intron so it did not mean anything.  Interestingly though, the majority of our class was diseased. So this meant the disease gene is actually more present in the common population than the healthy gene. 

Creating GMO's

Genetically modified organisms are organisms that have had their DNA modified by scientists to express a gene that will genetically enhance the organism.  They are intended to help the organism function more efficiently or to express a gene that will make them succeed in their environment at a greater success rate than an organism from the same species without the genetically enhanced DNA.  These GMO's are controversial globally.  They are controversial because some people believe that tampering with evolution and producing organisms that do not have 100% their own DNA is ethically wrong.  But the benefits are clearly helpful to the entire world's population.  GM food is a major source of beneficial growth among the world's supply of food. GM food is produced in order to create food that can resist frost or to kill insects that cause them to die.  GM food can also be modified to be enlarged and to alter their appearance to make them more likely to be bought at the store.  People in the United States do not have regulations on whether or not GM food has to have a label, but in other parts of the world GM food is labeled so the sales are less high in other parts of the world. 
In our lab we will use the mortar and pestil to grind up different foods to break down the nuclear membrane releasing DNA into the cytoplasm so we can extract it.  But first because DNAse is in the cytoplasm and will destroy the DNA when it contacts it we must destroy the DNAse.  We will do this using instagene matrix beads which disarm the DNAse.  Then we will take our gene of interest and place it in a TI plasmid, which we will insert into a bacteria and allow it to grow.