Unit 6 Reflection

In this unit, we focused on biotechnology and bioethics. We first learned about what and where biology/biotechnology is and is used. There are four main areas of biotechnology. The first is Industrial and Environmental. This category is related to taste. The most significant biotechnology part of this is fermentation, or the use of bacteria or yeast in an oxygen free environment, to convert the sugars into acids, gases, and/or alcohol. The next category was Medical and Pharmaceutical. In this category, there is gene therapy. This is putting a healthy copy of a gene into cells of a person whose copy is defective. There are two types of therapy, which are germ line therapy and somatic gene therapy. In agriculture, the third category, there are GMO's and breeding. Agricultural biotechnology is focusing on our foods, or rather where they come from. Both the breeding and genetically modified organisms have an outcome of reproducing the same traits down through generations. In the last category, diagnostic, the main point is genetic testing. This is the search for genes or DNA segments indicating risk for various diseases or disorders.

Before I go into the ethics of biotechnology and all its glory, I would like to focus on one of the labs we did as groups in the class. This was called the pGLO lab, and we had a vodcast on it as well. This lab and vodcast showed part of what happens in the recombination of DNA. This is only the adding of foreign DNA, or plasmids, into the bacteria in order to transform, highlight, and reproduce it. This is only part of recombination because it leaves out the other components, such as restrictive enzymes and the insertion of the new bacteria into the organism. It also lacks the gene of interest, or the targeted gene. This recombination of DNA is very important and has helped countless of organisms because of its ability to fix/replace defective DNA.  This lab was very fun and we got to see the growth of bacteria in action. My favorite part of the lab was just realizing that the bacteria was actually bacteria. It is amazing to think that such a small and simple organism could reproduce and pick up plasmids like that. The average e.coli is 0.2um, and the plate had about 1 inch of bacteria, that is a lot of growth in 2 days. Not only that, but such a simple organism has the ability to pick up DNA from its surroundings! That is what I find incredible. The glowing under the UV light was amazing.

The photo above shows the versatility of the e.coli we used for the experiment. This one picture shows the reproduction of bacteria in only 2 days, and its ability to pick up plasmids, which are shown with the bacteria that glows with UV light. 

We then focused on bioethics, which in my opinion is polluted by religion. I am not attacking religion at all, and I know many ethics/morals are based on religion, but I think this world and this field of science would flow much smoother and be more cooperative if religion was not a major factor. I say this because we have seen religion come into many debate, ranging from death penalty to abortion to cloning. Topics such as these have been plaguing the nation and politics for years. Cloning is occurring as we speak to multiple organisms inferior, or as thought by humans, to us like rats, dogs, cats, cows, etc., but there have been proven genetic defects for these clones. This has not stopped us. However, for the same reasons, humans refuse to clone each other. There are many flaws in the ethics of the debate. 

Another lab I would like to point out in the unit is the gel electrophoresis lab. We went over the process of gel electrophoresis lab at many different times, so I will not go over it in detail. Gel electrophoresis is the process of measuring the lengths/sizes of DNA strands by putting them in a gelatin like substance. Then, the gel is connected to power, with the side with DNA samples on the negative side of the power, and the opposite side of the gel with the positive charge. Once turned on, the DNA is attracted to the positive charge, and this causes the strands to move across the gel. The smaller the strand, the farther it moves, and visa versa. I enjoyed this lab because it was different from everything else I had ever done before. Usually, you deal with replicas or sugars/salts. Yes, this contained a sugar as well, but we worked with dye samples from candy, something similar to DNA. I always thought that this was something done only by the professionals, and it gave me a positive feeling about this class. 

This is a time lapsed video showing the first about 7 minutes of the gel electrophoresis in action. Sorry for the constant movement, as I did not have a stand and we were cleaning up at the same time. 

This unit, especially the labs, showed me that I need to work on sensitivity and tolerance. Although these are not stated in my New Years Goals resolutions, the gel electrophoresis lab and the pGLO lab showed this to me. In both labs, I took a leadership role. Everyone participated, but I seemed to lead the group. This was OK with everyone, but things did not always to as planned, as they rarely do. Sometimes a group member would forget to use a sterile/new pipette when adding a foreign substance to the agar, or they would not respond when I asked them to do something. Although I kept it in for the most part, I was angered at their lack of presence and action in the labs. However, after the labs I reminded myself that no one is perfect and even I make mistakes. This shows how I need to work on empathy and how not everyone is perfect.