The following documents were both archived from Genetics. Each project was roughly half of a semester long. Throughout the lecture, I learned many historical facts in the field, common genetic diseases, patterns of inheritance, as well as how to analyze and determine the genetic likelihood for many factors. In the lab portion of the class, I was able to apply chemistry concepts to genetics through investigation with a chemical that has the potential to kill cancer cells, and how to modify a bacterium to detect a chemical.

As you can see from the first document, I was able to investigate the ability of a common chemical present in wine, resveratrol, to induce apoptotic effects on tumor cells. The investigation included analyzing certain genes’ expression after exposure to the chemical.

As you can see from the second document, I was able to partake in research that genetically modified Escherichia coli to detect lead in the presence of it. The organism was modified so that when the chemical is present, it will turn on expression of green fluorescent protein so that the results are visible to the human eye, as a potential aid in the identification of gunshot residue.

Both of these projects successfully incorporated chemistry concepts to a biological context and model, however, I do not have much exposure to physics concepts incorporated into a biological context. I have taken calculus-based physics apart from biology classes, and having the two concepts merge would be very interesting to me! I would love to have more experience with that.