AP Lab: Bacterial Transformation
How can we use genetic engineering techniques to manipulate heritable information?
Are genetically modified foods safe? There is ongoing debate about whether it is safe to eat fruit and vegetables that are genetically modi!ed to contain toxins that ward off pests. For instance, biotechnologists have succeeded in inserting a gene (Bt) from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis into the corn genome. When expressed, the Bt toxin kills caterpillars and controls earworms that damage corn, but is the corn safe for human consumption? Genetic information passed from parent to offspring via DNA provides for continuity of life. In order for information in DNA to direct cellular activities, it must be transcribed into RNA. Some of the RNAs are used immediately for ribosomes or to control other cellular processes. Other RNAs are translated into proteins that have important roles in determining metabolism and development, i.e., cellular activities and phenotypes (traits). When the DNA of a cell changes, the RNAs and proteins they produce often change, which in turn changes how that cell functions. DNA inside a cell can change several ways. It can be mutated, either spontaneously or after the DNA replication machinery makes an error. Biotechnologists may cause an intentional mutation in a cell’s own DNA as a way to change how that cell behaves. The most powerful tool biotechnologists have, though, is the ability to transfer DNA from one organism to another and make it function there. With this tool, they can make cells produce novel protein products the cells did not make previously. Examples of this powerful tool are all around us. Insulin that people take to control their blood sugar levels is often made from engineered bacteria. Some vaccines, as well as enzymes used for manufacturing denim jeans, are also made using engineered cells. In the near future, engineered bacteria and other cells being developed could help clean up spilled oil or chemicals, produce fuel for cars and trucks, and even store excess carbon dioxide to help slow global climate change. However, biotechnology and human manipulation of DNA raise several ethical, social, and medical issues, such as the safety of genetically modified foods. This biotechnology depends on plasmids, small circles of DNA that were found first in bacteria. Plasmids allow molecular biologists to manipulate genetic information in a laboratory setting to understand more fully how DNA operates. Plasmids also let us move DNA from one bacterium to another easily. In this investigation, you will learn how to transform Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria with DNA it has not possessed before so that it expresses new genetic information. Bacterial cells that are able to take up exogenous (external) genetic material are said to be “competent” and are capable of being transformed. You also will calculate transformation efficiency to find out how well the E. coli took up the “foreign” DNA. |
Lab MaterialsResources: Copy of Lab (Print and bring with you) Lab Primer Video: Bacterial Transformation Bacterial Transformation Lab Class Presentaion Bozeman: Molecular Biology Lab (First 5:08 only) |