Lab 9: Molecular Biology

5 Points

Part 1: In this lab, you will learn about the fundamental tools of molecular biology: DNA isolation, gel electrophoresis and PCR. To begin, work through the tutorial on DNA isolation below. While completing this part of the virtual lab, be sure to take notes and complete the questions below. The questions throughout this exercise will be your lab worksheet for this week. However, you will want to take good notes as you will be responsible for the information in the video on the lab exam.

https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/labs/extraction/

1. Why would we want to isolate DNA (what can we use it for)?

• Where is DNA located? How much DNA can be found in one cell?

• What kind of cells were used in this lab to isolate DNA?

• What are the four steps to purify DNA?

• Name 6 materials used in the DNA isolation procedure.

• What is the function of the lysis solution?

• What is the purpose of the salt solution?

• How does a centrifuge work?

Part 2: Now that we have the DNA isolated, we can use a thermocycler to perform PCR and make many copies of our region of DNA of interest. Click on the link below to complete the virtual PCR lab. While you work through the exercise, take notes and complete the questions below. This exercise works through the steps of isolating DNA from and then performing PCR using bacteria. When you click on the link below, click “launch interactive” then click on “click to enter the lab” after reading through the intro. For this lab, you only need to work through part 2 titled “PCR amplification”. However, you can look through the other steps as well if you are interested in learning more.

https://www.biointeractive.org/classroom-resources/bacterial-identification-virtual-lab

1. What does PCR stand for?

•  How many copies of DNA can PCR produce and how long does it take?

• What is the purpose of PCR ?

• PCR involves repeating cycles of 3 steps. Describe, in detail and in your own words, what those 3 steps are and what is happening in each step.

Part 3: We have isolated DNA and made billions of copies of a region of interest. The last step is to utilize gel electrophoresis to separate and visualize DNA. The presence of DNA of specific lengths can help identify the perpetrator of a crime, determine who the father of a child is, determine what alleles someone has for a particular gene, etc. Follow the link below to complete the lab simulation. Take notes and complete the questions below while doing the experiment.

https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/labs/gel/

1. What is gel electrophoresis used for?

• What makes the DNA move when running a gel?

• DNA migrates to the _________________ end of the gel.

• True or False: Long strands of DNA migrate farther than short strands of DNA.

• Why do we also run a standard/ladder?

• True or False: because DNA is negatively charged, it will migrate to the negative pole.

• How do we know that the current is running in the gel box?

Part 4: Practice interpreting results

DNA was isolated from 3 people in a family to test for the presence of a disease-causing allele. The disease is the result of a 600 bp long insertion in chromosome 16. If the individual does not have the disease-causing allele (negative), their DNA segment that was amplified using PCR would be 500 bp long. If the individual has the disease-causing allele (positive), their piece of DNA would be 1100 bp long. Remember that everyone will have 2 alleles for this gene (one from mom and one from dad). In order to have this disease, you must inherit the disease-causing allele (positive) from both of your parents = homozygous positive.

To determine the size of the DNA, a ladder was run in the first lane (farthest left lane). The ladder contained the following size segments of DNA: 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1000, 1200, 1600, 2000 bp.

1. Label the size of each fragment of DNA in the ladder lane in the gel above.

• Matching: match each person in this experiment to their correct description for this gene based on the data in the gel by placing the correct letter in the spaces below.

Person 1 _________                                      a.  homozygous recessive  

Person 2 _________                                      b. heterozygous

Person 3 _________                                      c. homozygous negative

• Will any of these 3 individuals have this disease? If so, who will and explain how you know.

• Person 2 had only 1 band show up in the gel. What is the size of their band of DNA?

 

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ITGS 400 Explorations in Leadership

Required Texts:

Mandela, Nelson. (1995) Long Walk to Freedom. New York: Little Brown and Company Paperback. ISBN: 0-31654818-9. (Make sure that you have the full version, not an abridged version, otherwise you’ll not be able to complete assignments).

Module 1

Instructions:

• Do not delete the questions – simply indent your answers to retain the numbering system.
• Use a formal writing style and proofread for correct use of language.
• Write a short paragraph for each question, addressing each of the points mentioned.

The aim is generally threefold:

• to demonstrate your familiarity with the course materials. Provide as much information you consider necessary to achieve this end. Cite the page number in the text where you found the information using this format: “(Mandela, 2012, p. 5)” and for films, cite the director and date e.g., “(Attenborough, 1982)” or in the case of my own instructor videos, “(Woodward, 2007)”. For the book, check what date your edition is on the front inside cover, it might be the original from 1995, or a later publication.  If you have an audio book, it likely states the publication date somewhere.
• to think critically about issues and comment on them
• to self-reflect on your own development of leadership to date and potential for the future. This is considered in a much broader sense than leadership within any official position and includes day-to-day lifestyle.

Mandela: Part I

1. A. Why was Mandela’s father considered important in the community?

B. Comment on the role you think this may have played in developing Mandela’s future leadership.

C. Comment on any family member or other role model you have had in your life, describing how they have been a “leader” to you and impacted your life.

• A. Describe two early indications that Mandela would become a troublemaker.

B. Comment on how “making trouble” might indicate qualities in a leader as it relates to the saying “no one who made history was ever well-behaved.”

• A. Explain the issue underlying Mandela’s impending marriage.

B. Comment on any dilemma you have experienced between respecting family/cultural traditions and making independent life choices.

• A. What ceremony marked the end of Mandela’s youth?

B. Comment on any milestone(s) in your own culture that indicates becoming an adult and what that signifies to you.

Mandela: Part 2

• A. When Mandela and Justice first entered the mines, what did they notice about how the hostels were segregated?

B. Even though racial segregation is not legal in the USA, discuss anything you notice about levels of various cultural or racial groups mixing or keeping to themselves in US society and comment on that.

• A. When Mandela moved from the mines to the Johannesburg city center, at what type of firm did he find employment? 

B. What did he consider significant about the culture/religion of the partners of the firm in how they treated black employees in their firm?

C. Comment on how the experience of discrimination (individual or group) can lead one to be more sensitive to the needs of others, including if you have any personal experience of this.

• A. Having not completed his degree at Fort Hare University, Mandela then enrolled in a correspondence university to complete his courses. What was the first degree that Mandela obtained?

B. Comment on the practical conditions you face in achieving your degree compared with what Mandela faced during his undergraduate program?

• A. What was Mandela’s economic situation during this early period of employment and study?

B. Comment on how you’ve faced your own challenges in getting an education.

• A. What was the pertinent cultural issue Mandela faced in having a possible future with Ellen, the woman he loved?

B. Comment on any way in which you’ve needed to pioneer your own path that may not have fallen in line with expectations of others.

Instructor Interview Video (15 minutes) (attached)

1. As you can see above, you are being challenged to self-reflect on your own experiences and potential as a leader and to articulate this reflection in your assignments submitted your professor. This week view a 15-minute interview with the course instructor on her experience of racial issues growing up in South Africa. The short video this week is NOT intended as a model of leadership in ANY way – it simply allows you to get to know your professor a little better as she also does some personal sharing with you, and as you are sharing about yourself in your reflections to her. In this video, she shares about her background having been born in South Africa and growing up there.

A. In a short paragraph, describe your immediate thoughts and responses to any specific experiences of the instructor, as recounted in this video interview.

B. Explain very briefly your retrospective view on any circumstances in which you grew up (I grew up in Europe) and how those impact you in any way today.

DIME Documentary (25 minutes) https://hml.ewu.edu/player?autostart=n&fullscreen=y&width=720&height=480&videoId=3699&quality=hi&captions=n&chapterId=0

• As you can see above, you are (as last week) being challenged to not only reflect on the materials read, but to self-reflect on your own experiences and potential as a leader and to articulate this reflection in your assignments submitted to your professor. The short video is NOT intended as a model of leadership in ANY way – it simply allows you to get to know your professor a little better as she also does some personal sharing with you, as you are sharing your thoughts with her. In this video, she shares about one of her personal projects that she initiated in addressing a social issue. It is hoped that you might then consider any kind of project you might initiate someday.

Write a short paragraph with:

 (A.) a brief comment on the program, including any value you think it might have had, followed by

(B.) a brief description of an idea for a possible project that you personally could initiate someday to impact society in line with your own field of professional or other interest.

 

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Please write a paper not exceeding 4 pages single-spaced 12pt font addressing the following six questions:

1. Are all segments equally attractive to MM? If yes, why? If not, why not? How do the different segments’ needs and expectations evolve over time?
2. How does customer satisfaction change over time? How do you balance hard performance metrics such as revenues and profits with soft metrics such as customer satisfaction?
3. How does customer satisfaction relate to customer loyalty?
4. How should you manage MM pricing? What does it take to justify price increase? How does price discounting affect the outcome?
5. How do you balance short-term and long-term investments?
6. How does channel conflict figure into your pricing decisions? How do you minimize channel conflict?

 

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 After completing the reading this week, we reflect on a few key concepts this week:

1. Discuss and identify leader traits and attributes that are most beneficial in implementing the best decisions in an organization?
2. Explain the differences in charismatic and transformational leadership and how both leadership styles impact organizational effectiveness.  Please note how these leadership styles affect implementing new innovative technologies?
3. Review table 8.1 in the reading this week, note the work characteristics and the traditional versus high-performance focus, note which focus is best for strategic decisions and which is best for operational decisions.  Please explain?

Please be sure to answer all the questions above in the initial post. 

At least four scholarly (peer-reviewed) resource should be used in the initial discussion thread.  Please ensure to use information from your readings and other sources from the UC Library.  Use APA references and in-text citations. 

 

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