GMO Results

In this lab we found that both the orange and the corn samples that we took were genetically modified. This makes sense because the orange that Daniel had was a cutie and corn is almost certainly genetically modified unless otherwise certified within the United States. The controls that were in place thankfully did not need to be used because the lab went splendid. The gel electrophoresis illustrated that the samples with added plant primers went farther and that those with GMO primers all matched up to each other. If they had not shown up in spots two and four we would assume that the samples were not genetically modified but this was not the case. Some sources of error may have been using a pestle and mortar instead of a blender provided us with a lesser amount of sample that then showed up very faintly within the gel. This was not too big of a deal because our results were spot on.

Experimentation Proving Most American Foods are Genetically Modified.

Introduction:

Genetically modified food contains genes implanted from other organisms for a specific purpose. They can be beneficial by providing more nutrition or yield, but the full effects are still unknown. In the US genetically modified foods do not have to be labelled as such which is potentially dangerous for those with allergies, and the public is unable to see the actual pros and cons of the food. Some cons include the potential for creation of superweeds by overuse of cross-pollination with herbicide resistant crops, and the creation of monocultures provides the potential for a single disease to wipe out main food crops such as corn. Also allergies are much more prone by using genes from different species. Some other pros are more storable foods(square), last longer, taste better, be more nutritious, can grow using lesss resources. In this lab we will be testing a variety of foods to determine there upbringing. We could specifically test individually the GMO proteins by useing Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay but unfortunately the genes are different in each organism. Instead we will a Polymerase Chain Reaction to identify the sequences inserted into the GM plant. This test can detect 85 percent of all GM crops because we are not looking for the gene but the plasmid that is transferred from the bacteria to the plant cell.

Procedure:In this lab we will start out by preparing the food and cutting a slice out around all the edges. We will hurt the cell wall and then open up the cell membrane. DNAse will be killed off with instagene maxtrix beads. On day two we wll do the polymerase chain reactions and amplify the DNA. Then the primers, DNA polymerase, nucleotide bases and reaction buffer will be mixed in a single test tube. Then the mixture will be placed in the thermal cycler, where it will cycle from 94 degrees Celsius to 59 degrees Celsius back and forth. The first step is called denaturation which happens at high temperatures. The next is the annealing step in which two template strands will compete with the primers but lose at low temperatures. Lastly the extension step will stay at 72 degrees Celsisus and the DNA polymerase will make copies of the DNA strand. It takes three full cycles that the fragments of precise length are generated. On the third day we will use gel electrophoresis to test with a GMO primer and have a plant primer set as a control.