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Genetic Engineering
Teach genetic technologies by modifying microorganisms in your own classroom.
Genetic Engineering Experiment Kits
STEM Reactor offers Experiment Packages for studying Biotechnology using, Bacterial Transformation is a key technique used to insert genes into organisms.
Students learn about the ability of genome modification to produce organisms with varying characteristics. They will insert new genes into E. Coli DNA and observe the differences between modified and unmodified organisms.
In this experiment, your students will develop an understanding of bacterial transformation by plasmid DNA by introducing an opportunity to observe an acquired phenotypic trait of the transformed bacterial cells. The presence of blue bacterial colonies visually demonstrates the expression of a specific gene for the Lac+ phenotype.
No IPTG used in this experiment.
In this experiment, students will explore the biological process of bacterial transformation using E. coli and plasmid DNA. At the end of the activity, students will have experience observing and analyzing acquired traits (ampicillin resistance and fluorescence) as exhibited by transformed bacterial cells.
When bacteria are used to make medicinally useful proteins by transformation, the protein of interest must be separated from all of the other cellular proteins. In this experiment, the unique fluorescent properties of GFP and BFP will be used as an assay during their purification from an E. coli extract. The column fractions containing GFP or BFP will be identified by fluorescence and then purified. As an optional activity, purified protein fractions can be separated by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) to estimate the purity and size of the GFP and BFP proteins.
Generic Engineering News: CRISPR Babies
The development of CRISPR technology has the potential to eradicate genetic disorders for future generations. But the line between beneficial modifications and eugenics is indeed fine. With the world’s first CRISPR babies over 2 years of age we explore the science behind the ethics of human genetic modification and when the line was crossed.
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