Biofuel Post-Lab

Activity 1: When mixing the enzyme and stop solution, the reaction at time intervals seemed pretty constant. There was an ever so slight difference that showed a slightly stronger concentration over time, but nothing significant.
Activity 2: When adding the solution to each curvette at regular time intervals, the most obvious observation was an apparent curve in the potency of the reaction. At the halfway mark (4 min) is when the reaction seemed to produce the most of a reaction.

Biofuel Enzyme Lab

This lab will measure enzyme activity of cellobiase and measure the best conditions for the enzyme. This lab is meant to recreate the conditions to make celluosic ethanol, which is thought to be a good form of renewable fuel.

Celluose is a source of sugar found in plant walls. When the celluose is broken down, it is made into glucose, a simple sugar. In this experiment we will add an enzyme (cellulase) to celluose to produce glucose which can then be fermented into ethanol, a potential biofuel.

DNA Preciptaition Lab

So for this lab, we will make a necklace incorporating our own DNA, which will henceforth be known as "biological bling". We get the DNA from our cheek cells (hopefully free of debris) and to do this we need to bite on our cheeks for a while. It only hurts a little. With the addition of some salt water to swish around in the mouth, we added this to a very scientific looking tube. The addition of salt in the water is necessary in order to get rid of the charge of the sugar phosphate backbone of the nucleic acid, which would allow the DNA of the cell to come out into the open. A dash of lysis is then necessary for the denaturation of the DNA, which disrupts the hydrogen bonds of DNA and converts it to a single strand form. After this step is when we add the cold ethanol. It is primarily a rinsing agent to make sure that our DNA comes out nice and squeaky clean. And with this we have the DNA material in tangible enough form to extract it and put it into our bling.

Doin' The Lab

Yogurt Lab

     Bacteria are a group of organisms classified as prokaryotes, which are microscopic single-celled organisms. Bacteria can be both helpful and harmful to the human body, though most are benign. Those that do cause disease, however, have been greatly analyzed and studied.

     This lab assignment is to make yogurt using bacteria, and in doing so test the postulates set forth by Robert Koch. This will involve using one particular type of microbe that will be cultured and inoculated into a neutral substance, in this case milk.

     The procedure will begin with one container of milk that will be scalded at eighty degrees Celsius in order to kill any spoilage bacteria and anything else that may interfere with the outcome of the lab. This process is known as pasteurization, created by Louis Pasteur. After the milk cools down, it will be divided into four samples. One sample will remain as just the milk itself for use as a negative control. The second will be used as a positive control by having it with both milk and the yogurt bacteria. The third will have milk mixed with ampicillin, an antibiotic related to penicillin. The fourth and final sample will have milk with an added component of E.coli, a common form of bacteria found in the human body. If my predictions are accurate, the negative control will remain the same. The second should form more yogurt. The third will likely remain as milk as well, as bacteria will be prevented from growing with the addition of ampicillin. The fourth may end up growing more E. coli, though this is the one I find the most unpredictable.