DNALC LIVE

Bacterial Transformation

Date: 3/25/2020
Time: 1:00 PM
Duration: 55 minutes
Presenter(s): Erin McKechnie
Audience: Grade 9 and above
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Activity description:

This experiment shows the link between an organism's genes (genotype) and traits (phenotype). Students introduce genes coding for proteins that confer fluorescence and antibiotic resistance into the bacterium E. coli. Following overnight incubation, transformed bacteria are compared to negative controls, exploring their ability to grow in the presence of ampicillin and to glow green when exposed to UV light. Take part in this lab and learn how easy it can be to genetically engineer bacteria and other organisms!

In this activity, participants will:

• observe a hands-on genetic engineering experiment;
• learn how to introduce a new gene into bacterial cells;
• understand how bacteria can be used to make human proteins such as insulin.