DIY with a goal !

Some examples of  workshops


 

CRISPR Workshop.


We cut and replace one DNA base in an organism making the organism resistant to one antibiotic.

Here is the initial protocol. The complete extended protocol is available in resources.

This workshop was a success as the CRISPRed organism was immune to Streptomycin.

Electrophoresis and visualization workshop.


We learned how to prepare and pour the gels, how to visualize DNA ladders using the transilluminator we built (not yet documented under projects).
This workshop was a success as the 12 bands were visible.

DNA extraction workshop


We learned how to extract DNA using a plasmid miniprep.

This workshop introduced column purification and centrifugation protocols. The complete extended protocol is available in resources as Mini Prep.

Using Petri dishes and aseptic technique for growing organisms Workshop.


We prepared and plated a variety of bacteria containing fluorescent plasmids.
We used our incubators as built under projects. This workshop was a success as the Fluorescent genes were expressed.

Transformation Workshop

Genetically modify an organism by introducing a new gene.


The virtually universal basis of genetic engineering is altering DNA. One massive form of alteration is introduction of new genes to organisms. Normally this is done, using the usual workhorses of molecular biology, the bacteria. One of the advantages of bacteria is a fast new generation rate. We don't want to wait years to see the organism expressing the new gene. One common gene used in research as a tag (called reporting gene) is Green Florescent Protein (GFP). It's a gene specific to a type of jellyfish.
We will insert this gene in a safe strain of E-Coli. The new bacteria will fluoresce in a special light while the original one will not.


Session one goes over the fundamentals, the plate preparation protocol and a hands on in preparing LB Agar plates. All participants succeeded in preparing the Petri plates.
This session was a success.

Session two, will go over the fundamentals of plating bacteria, another omnipresent technique in bioengineering research. We'll go over the protocol. The hands on will follow the protocol for cultivating a safe strain of E-Coli.
Here is a resulting plate:



Session tree, will go over the fundamentals of bacterial transformation, another omnipresent technique in bioengineering research. We'll go over the protocol. The hands on, will be inserting the gene from the jelly fish in the bacteria we grew which is a safe strain of E-Coli.

Session four, will be a continuation of the hands on. This is mainly because several incubation steps are longer than the meeting time. In this session we'll shine a light over the genetically modified bacteria and we'll see that the Green Florescent Protein was expressed by our modified organism.


We tried two protocols and we plated both on different halves of the same plate. We used a permanent marker line to delimit the plating areas as in the image below. One half yielded no transformed bacteria and the other one resulted in five colonies and some untransformed bacteria colonies in the background:






And here we re-plated one of the five successfully transformed colonies and got dozens of colonies each with millions of individuals:



 

Adrian's handwritten notes for this experiment in a text format

 

STEM session workshop

On July 12th we ran a STEM session at the Nepean Branch of the Ottawa Public Library.
About 20 participants enjoyed a DNA race which was demonstrating and Electrophoresis.
Here are some of the links to resources used to run this workshop:

University of Utah Lab This also include instructions for making a very simple box.

Rainbow Gel Electrophoresis Lab

University of Arizona

An You Tube video demonstrating an industrial procedure

Adrian's handwritten notes for this experiment in a text format

STEM session workshop

DNA extraction from a strawberry.
We tried this semi-scientific DNA extraction so we could 'see' the DNA

We have the the protocol described on the resources page.



 



Proposed workshops.




 

The beginning of the list consists of planned workshops and the rest are for discussion. Please propose new ones you are interested in, so we could consider them.

 
  • Genetically engineer an eukaryote (yeast) by adding a new gene from another organism.
  • Extract an existing gene from an existing organism and genetically engineer a new plasmid with that. see some basic DNA extraction at http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2012/03/06/extract-your-own-dna-in-three-easy-steps/#.XSyEHOhKjIU
  • Identification of bacteria using PCR
  • Detection of viruses using PCR
  • Large scale production of DNA
  • Large scale production of several enzimes
  • Use CRISPR to create GMOs.
  • Follow Stanford paper that created nanobodies for cancer treatment.
  • Determine the existence of given known mutation in an organism.
  • Production of a given protein.
  • Bioprinting.
  • Growing simple organs in vitro.
  • Create new plant variants.
  • Create new fish variants.