As we are currently waiting for a chemical reagent to arrive in the lab, we did not do any work with the frog specimen that we collected last week during our field nights. However, Kyley and I are working in a lab with 5 or 6 other students who each have their own individual projects. This week we have been helping out with the projects of two of our lab mates, Phai Tong and Fi. We ran PCRs on DNA samples from two different frog species to test the effectiveness of different primers used in PCR analysis. When the PCRs were done, we ran a gel electrophoresis and took a picture of the gel product under a UV light. The results told us that both of the primers are suitable for PCR analysis, as we were able to correctly distinguish the base pair differences between the two species under both primers. I am assuming that these are the primers that we will be using next week in our analysis of the frog tissues that we collected.
One interesting thing that I picked up while working in the lab this week is that most scientific equipment is labeled in English. Our lab mates speak pretty good English, but I am sure it must be a bit difficult for them to do all of their work in a language that isn't native to them. I also noticed that they use a slightly different method for preparing samples for the gels. Whereas at CSUF ethidium bromide is used, Thai labs use gel red. They use this chemical because it is much safer and less toxic than ethidium bromide. In the labs at CSUF we mix the DNA, loading dye, and ethidium bromide directly in the microcentrifuge tubes. During this week we used a piece of plastic to drop the samples and then mixed the liquids together on the plastic. I was really happy to learn a new method which, to me, seemed a lot more fun! I also appreciate that they use a less toxic chemical for their gels - safer for humans and safer for the environment. :)
-Miranda
One interesting thing that I picked up while working in the lab this week is that most scientific equipment is labeled in English. Our lab mates speak pretty good English, but I am sure it must be a bit difficult for them to do all of their work in a language that isn't native to them. I also noticed that they use a slightly different method for preparing samples for the gels. Whereas at CSUF ethidium bromide is used, Thai labs use gel red. They use this chemical because it is much safer and less toxic than ethidium bromide. In the labs at CSUF we mix the DNA, loading dye, and ethidium bromide directly in the microcentrifuge tubes. During this week we used a piece of plastic to drop the samples and then mixed the liquids together on the plastic. I was really happy to learn a new method which, to me, seemed a lot more fun! I also appreciate that they use a less toxic chemical for their gels - safer for humans and safer for the environment. :)
-Miranda