Unit 6 Reflection

Unit 6 Reflection

This unit was about Biotechnology, including bioethics, which is the study of decision making about moral because of advances in biological tech,  and recombinant DNA, which is the inserting of one organism's DNA into another. We also learned about the four applications of biotechnology, which are Medical/Pharmaceutical, Industrial/Environmental, Agricultural, and Diagnostic. In addition to that, we learned about the process of gel electrophoresis, which separates DNA based on strand size,   PCR, which amplifies a specific region of DNA, and bacterial transformation, which is when something (like a plasmid) is transferred to another bacteria. 

Bioethics were a little hard for me, because sometimes I was split between whether a technology was right or wrong and I couldn't decide. Recombinant DNA, PCR, Gel Electrophoresis, and Bacterial Transformation were all easy to understand and demonstrate.  My group was very successful on both the candy electrophoresis lab and the pGLO lab. We had a large number of glowing bacteria and the result of our gel electrophoresis lab was very clear. 

In this unit we did a Recombinant DNA Lab, an Electrophoresis Virtual Lab, a Candy Electrophoresis Lab, and a pGLO Lab. From each of these labs, I learned one of the themes from unit 6.  The Recombinant DNA Lab taught me how to make Recombinant DNA, the two Electrophoresis labs taught me how to set up and analyze a Gel Electrophoresis, and the pGLO lab taught me the process of bacterial transformation. 

I would like to learn more about the benefits of bacterial transformation and other things its used for besides mass-producing insulin.  I have no unanswered questions from this unit. I wonder about genetic engineering in the future, and just how life changing it will prove to be. 

My goals for the new year were to become more neat, and to become better at balancing school and sports. I have definitely made progress towards my neatness goal, as my notebook is very clean and my handwriting is legible throughout, unlike my previous one from last semester. I have yet to find a perfect schedule for me to finish homework earlier after my sports, but have definitely become more on task and focused while doing my work at home. My next steps for my goals are to make sure that I  fill in my table of contents right after I do an assignment, and to create a physical schedule to follow which accounts for all the different parts of my day.