Thursday, March 10, 2011

DNA gel electrophoresis

Today you will do two virtual labs and complete the question sheet.  You will get a paper copy of this sheet to complete in the library class.  If you do this another time, you can print out the sheet and complete it yourself.  

Click on this link and answer the following questions.  Please read the instructions and information as you proceed through the lab.  The questions appear in the order they are presented in the lab.

How many base pairs make up the human genome?

What is the purpose of PCR (polymerase chain reaction)?

What are 5 ingredients that you need to add to a PCR tube, to make the reaction work?

What happens during the temperature cycles in the PCR process?

How many fragments of DNA have been produced, after 30 cycles in the PCR reaction?

Click on this link and answer the following questions.  Please read the instructions and information as you proceed through the lab.  The questions appear in the order they are presented in the lab.

What is the purpose of gel electrophoresis?

What causes the DNA to move through the gel in gel electrophoresis?

Why do some pieces of DNA move further through the gel in gel electrophoresis?

Enter your size estimates for the three DNA fragments that showed up in your DNA sample.