Notebook - Week 6

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Monday June 4

Today we spent part of the day deciding which E. coli strain to use before finally settling on strain BL21. Victor and David spent time in the lab working on making liquid colonies from the rehydration of GFP and Antigen 43. However, they were left in the incubation room all weekend, which may affect the results. The liquid growth medium looked relatively stable, therefore we did miniprep for both luciferase and both GFP. In the evening, we continued work on our human practices project, SynthetiQ.

Tuesday June 5

We split into three groups today. Two groups spent most of the day researching the topics of potential non-BioBrick parts (specifically nanotubes and enzymes for degradation pathways) and Biobrick Fusion Standards. Victor, Kevin, and David spent most of the day in the lab testing gel electrophoresis and cleaning up the apparatus. They also performed miniprep for BisdA and BisdB.

Wednesday June 6

Today we again split into different groups and worked on researching individual topics. David worked on controlling flagella length and the fliD chimera. Andrew, Beini, Kevin, and Phillip worked on BioBrick fusion standards. Victor worked on non-BioBrick parts. In the lab today, Victor and Beini made agar plates, as well as performed the dehydration of three BioBrick parts: Vio Operon K274002, Vio Operon K274004 and methionine-his affinity tag K133035.

Thursday June 7

The results of the dehydration performed yesterday were mixed at best. The methionine-his tag yielded colonies, but both Vio operons did not. Today we continued with the research on the topics we were working on yesterday. In the lab, Victor and David made liquid colonies for the his-tag part, and did dehydration of lead-binding protein and CFP.

Friday June 8

We got positive results from the dehydration performed yesterday, as both CFP and lead-binding protein had colonies. Also, a "mysterious package" arrived in Kevin's name today. As it is being forwarded to Dr. Chin-Sang's lab, we don't know what it is yet. We think that it is our shipment of BioBrick parts, but we're not sure. Today, most of us continued with the research that we had been doing over the past few days. Victor, Phillip, and Beini went into the lab and performed miniprep for his-tag (K133035) and made liquid colonies for lead-binding protein and CFP (1721002 and E0022). We also heard back from a newspaper that we had contacted, Kingston This Week and we were able to arrange an interview on Monday! Kevin and Phillip also worked on a significant overhaul on the wiki, preparing for a massive overhaul that will take place in the coming weeks.......