Do not name the mice, they are for research!!!

Well, here we are at the beginning of another school year and already our biotechnology class is evolving.  This year I’ve decided to follow mainstream science and concentrate on experimenting with proteins.  Back when I was learning these techniques in 2000, everything was about DNA and how it would revolutionize the world of genetics.  Since then we’ve completed the Human Genome Project and have determined that we have roughly the same number of genes as a chicken and only one third greater than that of a roundworm.  The puzzling part (if that isn’t puzzling enough) is that we have three times as many kinds of proteins.  So how can that be?  Isn’t it one gene one protein?  Not any more, enter the study of RNA and proteomics (the study of protein structure and function).  Nowadays if you are not an RNA specialist then you are definitely a protein chemist but there still seems to be a great shortage of interested scientists. 

Here at WRA, the biology department has decided to raise interest in the field by incorporating experiments dealing with proteins.  We’ve brought in equipment, reagents, and laboratory mice to help us along our journey of investigation.  Our students’ success will be further bolstered by the opportunity to work one-on-one with research scientists at the Cleveland Clinic next summer.  They will be able to put to practice all the hands-on laboratory techniques learned at WRA in a real research lab.  Go Pioneers!   

WRA Biotech Students Tackle Research at The Cleveland Clinic

This summer three WRA students (Jessie Gruden, Kerri Symes, and Sheila Seetharaman) decided to put their learned skills to the test and so joined the Tuohy Lab at the Lerner Research Institute. Jessie paired up with Dr. Ritika Jaini and has been fortunate enough to help with research involving mouse models of Multiple Sclerosis, protein purification, mouse perfusions and dissections. Kerri has been working with Mr. Justin Johnson (our molecular scientist) involving recombinant DNA, insect cell cultures, and viral assisted delivery of nucleic material. Sheila has been working with me on culturing bacteria and protein purification which will lead up to mouse immunization in an effort to induce an autoimmune response to the ovaries. It has really been great to see our students work so hard and gain so much knowledge this past month and a half. Our principal investigator, Dr. Vincent Tuohy, really seems pleased with the work they’ve done.

pGREEN Bacteria

Biotech has been transforming E. coli bacteria using a green fluorescent protein that comes from a jellyfish. A successful transformation was confirmed by either a color change in the bacteria from white to yellow/green or fluorescence under UV light. This is a common laboratory method used to check whether or not the plasmid DNA was successfully introduced inside the bacterial cell.

What's happening now?

Once again the biotech class is working on cheek cell DNA extractions. The difference is that this time I had them first practice purifying bacterial DNA and then moved into hair DNA analysis followed by cheek cell DNA analysis. This will hopefully increase the chances of obtaining a good DNA fingerprint. We shall see!

On another note, the forensic science club received their first set of tools in forensic anthropology which they will get to apply at our next meeting. We will begin with the examination and identification of the skeletal remains collected at the crime scene. What a great time to be a science teacher and a science student for that matter.

Exhibit A

FIX, our forensics science club, analyzed and collected evidence for their first mock crime scene this past weekend. A witness reported finding a plastic trash bag with a skull inside and so FIX rushed to barricade the scene and then search for evidence. Some of the articles they collected along with a skull and mandible were a glove, rib, and high caliber bullet. Their next step is to analyze the evidence in the lab using some of the past techniques they’ve learned as well as new ones that they will have to learn. It sounds like they don’t have much to go on but I am confident they will succeed in solving it.

The beginning of the end?

Well, it was sad saying goodbye to the first biotech class at WRA but at the same time I was excited about implementing new ideas into the second class. One thing that is new this second semester is the lab notebook which is no longer a binder but rather a bound, green, hardcover book that is exactly like the one we use at the Cleveland Clinic. The students now have to write down all of their experimental procedures, any notes I write on the board, any chemical protocols, and any other information they might deem pertinent. When they walk in to work on their experiment, they are only allowed to use their lab notebooks as reference. Also, in order to encourage proper note taking, I’ve allowed them to use their notebooks on their lab practical. Their practical still consists of timed, one minute questions but they now tend to be a little more detailed.

What I am trying to model here is the type of note taking we do at the Cleveland Clinic. When you are learning a new technique, the scientist teaching you is not going to tell you what to write down but instead is just going to ramble away and you will be expected to identify and write down all the pertinent information. If you fail to do so, then you might be stuck the next time you have to perform the procedure. If you go ask the scientist to repeat himself/herself they might be willing to help or they might just tell you to get lost all depending on how busy they are (not that this has happened to me). With this I hope to give our students another edge over other novice scientists.

This is a mid-term exam????

Well, Biotechnology is now working on their mid-term exam. The reason I mention it is because I am sure that it is not the type of exam they are used to taking. It is all hands-on and involves using all the different techniques they have learned throughout the semester. The only guidance they have from me is a list of tasks they have to complete by the end of the class period. They are allowed to use their lab notebooks and to work together with their lab partner but they may not ask any of the other lab teams for help. As a matter of fact, the only thing they are allowed to ask me is where something is (equipment, chemical, etc.). I say lab team because that is exactly what they are, you should see the way they’ve been dividing up tasks in order to ensure that they get everything done on time! As long as they have their notebooks in order, remember how to perform each task, and are able to work as a team, they should have no problem. They are now on their 3rd day and I must say that I am really enjoying watching them work!