Students will be able to evaluate, interpret, and apply experimental design and
draw valid conclusions from experiments.
In biology 250 Intro to Genetics my group conducted an experiment where we took soil samples from different locations at High Bridge Park. We then diluted the samples and added them to agar plates to grow cultures. After a few days we collected samples from the cultures to extract DNA and determine which strain of yeast were in them and if there was different species of yeast.
The DNA samples were sent off and then compared on NCBI to determine which strains we had. We found that our samples were most closely related to Lectura capisi a strain of yeast. The strain is mostly found in Argentina where the soil is very nutrient rich like found in the soil at High Bridge. This experiment was very interesting because we could link the yeast to somewhere very different than Farmville, Virginia which different climates.
This was new to me in looking actual DNA sequences and determining how small changes can be a completely different species. I did not really understand how DNA sequencing worked before this class and it showed how complex it is and that contaminated samples have to be very thoroughly cleaned in order to get precise results.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W412lrdrm0rCKlCElTlOrDVGr9I1oaFa/edit