science workshops

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BACTERIAL PAINTINGS FOR EASTER (APR 15, 2017)

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Instead of painting eggs, we decided to paint with E.coli. During this event, fellow DIY scientists made living pieces of art using E.coli that had been transformed to express fluorescent proteins. We tried to use five colors with varying levels of success. (Sorry everyone, looks like purple and yellow had some issues. Hopefully next time we can make solid colors.)

Here are the results of everyone's beautiful work. Scroll through and find your favorite. I tried to group the pictures by the artist. Please tell me if I miss a plate!

MOLECULAR SCISSORS (APR 1, 2017)

Molecular Biologist Toolkit: Restriction Enzymes

A staple in any DIY biologists' toolkit is the restriction enzyme. These nifty proteins can be used to cut DNA at specific sequences of bases producing either blunt or "sticky" ends. When the "sticky ends" are complementary the DNA combines and can result in a new sequence. Knowing how to use restriction enzymes is the first step in synthetic biology.

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During our third and final workshop in the Lab Skills 101 Series, participants utilized techniques gained from the previous two classes and added one more skill to their molecular toolkit. Participates used three common restriction enzymes (EcoRI, BamHI, HindIII)  to cut bacteriophage DNA. To assess if their cuts were successful, we ran gels to see the band patterns. It was really fun to observe positive outcomes with successful digests! 

- Jaylin and Regina

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BACTERIA PAINTINGS!

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THE MIXING OF ART AND SCIENCE CAN PRODUCE AMAZING RESULTS.

A few months ago we tested out one of our first workshops at Amazon's Expressions Lab. Using K-12 safe E.coli transformed with a plasmid (piece of DNA) to express fluorescent colored proteins, we invited people at Amazon to paint a picture on agar plates. The fun part of painting with bacteria is that it produces a piece of art that changes over time as the colonies grow larger and eventually die off. Its truly a living painting. Here are some of the results:

-Regina

CANDY ELECTROPHORESIS (MARCH 25, 2017)

DIY ELECTROPHORESIS (Under $10 a piece!)

Gel electrophoresis, at its most basic components, is a polymer matrix and electricity used to separate molecules by size, shape, and charge. Its a common lab technique and an extremely useful one. For our DIY Electrophoresis system, we used:

  • 5 - 9V batteries ($1 a piece at FamilyTree)
  • 2 - Leads with alligator clips ($7 for 10)
  • Silver wire or 2 paper clips (took from the office)
  • Square petri dish or small rectangular container (forever borrowed from kitchen)
  • <1g - Food-grade agar-agar powder ($7 for much more than you'll need)
  • Tape (took from office)
  • 2 - Popsicle sticks: thin and "normal" ($4+$7)
  • Baking soda (<$1 a box!)

Amazingly, it worked like a charm (if the charm was a dependable electrophoresis system)! So, we invited science-lovers from our MeetUp to take part in a workshop where they made their own DIY electrophoresis systems and used it to separate the dyes found on Skittles.

Thanks to everyone that was able to join us! 

- Regina

 

MICROPIPETTING WORKSHOP (MARCH 18, 2017)

MICROPIPETTING WORKSHOP

We held our first official workshop in the lab following our launch party on March 11th! We had a great turnout and we are pleased to see strong interest come from many different age groups. Our education guru, Regina, talked about the importance of laboratory basics and pipette-handling techniques, and then everyone got to practice and perfect their own skills via fun and engaging activities. Success! Check out more of our classes on our MeetUp page.