Biotech 2010- Ericka's Reflections

Biotechnology as a course has opened up a plethora of doors for students at Polk County High. As well as our normal core science classes, we get the chance to experience a course based in hands-on lab work and valuable applications of biotechnology in science within the real world. Biotechnology has prepared me, as well as every student in the class, for the atmosphere associated with college labs. We have learned how to use micropipets and how to perform a gel electrophoresis, PCR, DNA extraction, Southern Blot, and bacterial transformation. The Magnolia project also gives us a relevant way of applying the knowledge we have learned to benefit our community. After gathering leaves from the Polk County stand of Magnolia virginiana, we extracted the DNA from them and performed a PCR using ISSR primers ordered from a company named Operon. After the DNA has been amplified, we will perform a gel electrophoresis that will create a baseline banding pattern for the ISSR primers of Magnolia virginiana. Those banding patterns will be used to trace the closest relative to our stand of Magnolia virginiana in future years. Even though I am not going to be directly involved with the end product of this experiment, I am honored and excited about being part of the beginning. --Ericka