Dr. Cryan started off the day by giving me a little background on DNA replication and the secondary structure of protein coding versus nonprotein coding DNA. Afterwards, he showed me logs for replicating QUI54LC, I believe it was called. My first job was to replicate 18S DNA from the point a07 to bi. He showed me a list of chemicals and quantities, which we multiplied by 9 because we had 8 DNAs to replicate and one blank control. After using many different pipettes and quantities, I was able to create one test tube with all the "ingredients." Then I put 25 microlitres into each individual test tube with individual DNA. He taught me how to use the PCR machine. You place the test tubes into the machine, choose a folder, a reaction, and then let it begin. The PCR machine raises the temperature to about 95˚C then lowers it then evens out at about 54˚C. It repeats the cycle 44 times after the first cycle. We finished that one with some time to spare, so he had me do the same test with 18S on a different segment of the DNA. All in all, it was a successful day and I learned a lot about the importance of exact measurements and not contaminating different test tubes.
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