Unit 4 - How to Prevail When Organs Fail
In this final MI unit students learn how to produce and purify a protein in a laboratory setting. They will use the process of bacterial transformation to manufacture a Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) that is easily visible and can be traced in the laboratory. They will use the process of bacterial transformation to insert a plasmid containing the gene for green fluorescent protein (GFP) into E. coli cells. Students will use hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC) to separate the highly hydrophobic GFP protein from the other proteins in the bacterial cells. The students will collect proteins in differential fractions and analyze the contents of these fractions using gel electrophoresis.