Genetically Modify E. Coli w/ Jellyfish Genes - Coolest Lab Yet!

AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around a high school lab experiment where E. coli was genetically modified with jellyfish genes to induce fluorescence. Participants express excitement about the experiment, contrasting it with more tedious tasks like titrations or fruit fly breeding. The group discusses the safety of the modified E. coli, noting that they are designed to survive only in lab conditions. The outcome of the fluorescence test is anticipated, with one participant mentioning their girlfriend's related project on gene expression for cystic fibrosis, which involves genetically modified HIV as a delivery system. The conversation touches on the simplicity of the genetic modification process, raising concerns about its potential misuse. Participants reflect on the educational value of such experiments, emphasizing their relevance to real-world research. The discussion concludes with a technical note on the requirements for the E. coli to express the glowing protein, including gene splicing and antibiotic resistance.
binzing
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We genetically modified E. Coli with jellyfish genes for flourescence. It was probably the coolest lab we've done yet. No freakin' titrations or counting and sexing any damn fruit flies.
 
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That sounds awesome! We never did anything cool like that in high school.

So, did it work? And can you make your intestine glow :wink: ?
 
lisab said:
And can you make your intestine glow :wink: ?

I wouldn't recommend putting the E. coli back where they came from. :rolleyes:

That is a fun experiment to do, and very cool that you got to do it while still in high school. :approve: Sounds like you're having fun with that class.
 
Moonbear said:
Sounds like you're having fun with that class.

FOR ONCE!

Lisa, haha. No. These E. Coli are special ones that won't survive outside of a lab environment. We actually haven't seen if they glow yet, but we can make our predictions based on what we did. Tomorrow we get to see if they glow.
 
binzing said:
FOR ONCE!

Lisa, haha. No. These E. Coli are special ones that won't survive outside of a lab environment. We actually haven't seen if they glow yet, but we can make our predictions based on what we did. Tomorrow we get to see if they glow.

Great...let us know how it turns out.
 
lisab said:
Great...let us know how it turns out.

Sure will.
 
My girlfirend is using a similar thing on her year in industry. She is using the jellyfish gene to monitor gene expression of something to do with combatting cystic fibrosis. something to do with lipid based delivery. Her supervisor is investigating the use of genetically modified HIV (that sounds slighty risky to me but its a cool idea) as a delivery system for the corrected CF gene. I don't really understand it but it sounds interesting.
 
We got our respected outcomes, big suprise. It was fairly interesting though.
 
Great! As Chris points out, what you did in your biology class really is a tool used in actual research labs, not just some outdated busy-work exercise with no application beyond the classroom.
 
  • #10
Moonbear said:
Great! As Chris points out, what you did in your biology class really is a tool used in actual research labs, not just some outdated busy-work exercise with no application beyond the classroom.

Yeah. It was kind of scary as to how simple it was, considering that's the same method terrorists could use to create bio weapons.
 
  • #11
binzing said:
Yeah. It was kind of scary as to how simple it was, considering that's the same method terrorists could use to create bio weapons.

Rest assured, it's only easy because you were inserting a small gene that is known to work when transfected into the cells you were supplied with the kit used. Usually, you would transfect that GFP sequence attached to another gene of interest, and the reason for doing that is to find out if your gene of interest got into the cell and is being expressed by quickly looking for the GFP expression.
 
  • #12
I've done that exact lab!

It was so cool...
 
  • #13
I remember that lab back in high school.

It was cool but nowhere near as awesome as some of my chem labs in college.
 
  • #14
moose said:
I remember that lab back in high school.

It was cool but nowhere near as awesome as some of my chem labs in college.

My chem labs in college would have been a lot more fun if I wasn't always assigned a bench space next to a pyromaniac.
 
  • #15
Moonbear said:
Rest assured, it's only easy because you were inserting a small gene that is known to work when transfected into the cells you were supplied with the kit used. Usually, you would transfect that GFP sequence attached to another gene of interest, and the reason for doing that is to find out if your gene of interest got into the cell and is being expressed by quickly looking for the GFP expression.

Well mostly. Actually the to get glowing proteins the E. Coli we had had to A. have the positive gene splice for it, B. be resistant to ampicillin (sp?), and C. be in the presence or a certain chemical (ara-something).
 
  • #16
binzing said:
Well mostly. Actually the to get glowing proteins the E. Coli we had had to A. have the positive gene splice for it, B. be resistant to ampicillin (sp?), and C. be in the presence or a certain chemical (ara-something).

Very good. Do you understand why the cells became resistant to ampicillin when you successfully inserted a gene into them?
 

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