pGLO Lab

pGLO Observations , Data Recording & Analysis

1.

Obtain your team plates.  Observe your set of  “+pGLO” plates under room light and with UV light.  Record numbers of colonies and color of colonies. Fill in the table below. Plate Number of Colonies Color of colonies under room light Color of colonies under   UV light - pGLO LB 0 Opaque white white + pGLO LB/amp Around 50 Opaque white white + pGLO LB/amp/ara Around 75 Opaque white Glowing green

2.	What two new traits do your transformed bacteria have?
	Our new bacteria grew/multiplied in colonies and can glow when under the UV light.  The new bacteria are also now resistant to ampicillin.
3.	Estimate how many bacteria were in the 100 uL of bacteria that you spread on each plate. Explain your logic. In the 100 uL of bacteria, I estimate that there were about 50-80 bacteria. This is because a colony is one bacteria that split up to form more, so if you count the colonies then you will get an estimate on how many bacteria there are.
4.	What is the role of arabinose in the plates? The role of arabinose in the plates is to make the bacteria is to make the bacteria glow when the UV light is shined on them.  It glows because arabinose makes the plasmid produce GFP and shine under UV light.
5.	List and briefly explain three current uses for GFP (green fluorescent protein) in research or applied science. 3 current uses for GFP in research or applied science is they can be applied to cancer cells, so doctors can track and observe the cancer cells for developing a cure or just for research. The second reason that I found is scientists attach GFP to insulin producing cells for diabetic research. Another way GFP is used is to track the spread of diseases like HIV.
6.	Give an example of another application of genetic engineering. An application of genetic engineering is in the food industry. A lot of our foods are GMOs or Genetically Modified. Farmers change the makeup of crops to make them more visually pleasing and last longer and more preventative to diseases.