Thursday, January 10, 2008

Article discussions & cloning

Today we finished watching the animation of how a gene is cloned and students presented their biotechnology articles. Below are some of the summaries.

Liver cancer really fatal in China, hard to diagnose, because therapies are limited.

Gel electrophoresis was used to look for proteins whose copies are increased or decreased in patients with the liver cancer. In looking through the variation in proteins, they discovered two proteins that could serve as screening markers for liver cancer.

Towards a faster prenatal test for Down Syndrome

Normal test the results take two weeks, scientists are using a variation of PCR to find out if the child has down syndrome in two hours. The new process is called digital PCR so they are able to see the extra chromosome present. Put on a microfluid chip.

Judges concerns over the smallest of clues

Using PCR tests on crime scene, benefit will require only one nanogram (only 150 cells). Disadvantage, because you only need a little bit of evidence that the sample could become contaminated. Ex: touch an object, pick up some cells, these cells can find their way into the crime scene.

Homework: none

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