Genetically Modified Foods Lab Report
Purpose In this lab, we used PCR and gel electrophoresis to identify genetically modified food.
Introduction A genetically modified organism is an organism whose DNA or genetic makeup has been modified to code for certain desirable traits("Genetically Modified Foods"). Common genetically modified plants include corn and soy, and common genetically modified animals are fish. Many genetically modified plants are coded to resist bugs, grow faster, and produce bigger fruit, while most GMO animals are coded to grow faster and have better meat. This can help alleviate world hunger, and can also lower the cost of food production.(Calhoun) To determine if the food we selected was genetically modified, we used two biotechnology techniques: PCR and …show more content…
At first, I thought that Oreos would not have plant cells in them and that we would not be able to extract DNA. However, I was surprised to see that there were bands on the gel. On the gel, there is one smear that is slightly lighter blue than its surroundings in the sixth lane. This smear is the plant chloroplast gene, which barely showed up on the positive control(Lane 2) and lanes 5 and 6. Lane 1 was the ladder, which showed DNA fragments of different sizes so we could compare. The third lane is the negative control, which was DNA that was known to not have genetically modified genes. The plant chloroplast gene showed up in this lane. However, it did not show up on the first group’s lane, and this was probably because they used soy sauce for their food. An experiment that we could conduct for further investigation is whether or not DNA can be extracted from soy sauce, and whether or not soy sauce is genetically modified. The smear in lane 6 shows that our group was able to successfully extract the DNA from the food, but it is unclear if there are any other bands besides the plant chloroplast gene. The plant chloroplast gene was 500 base pairs long, so it should have been the band on the top. The CaMV gene was 200 base pairs long, so it should have been further down the gel. The cry1F gene was 125 base pairs long so it should have traveled the farthest and been the farthest from the wells. We were able to see the plant chloroplast gene but no other bands can be
Introduction A genetically modified organism is an organism whose DNA or genetic makeup has been modified to code for certain desirable traits("Genetically Modified Foods"). Common genetically modified plants include corn and soy, and common genetically modified animals are fish. Many genetically modified plants are coded to resist bugs, grow faster, and produce bigger fruit, while most GMO animals are coded to grow faster and have better meat. This can help alleviate world hunger, and can also lower the cost of food production.(Calhoun) To determine if the food we selected was genetically modified, we used two biotechnology techniques: PCR and …show more content…
At first, I thought that Oreos would not have plant cells in them and that we would not be able to extract DNA. However, I was surprised to see that there were bands on the gel. On the gel, there is one smear that is slightly lighter blue than its surroundings in the sixth lane. This smear is the plant chloroplast gene, which barely showed up on the positive control(Lane 2) and lanes 5 and 6. Lane 1 was the ladder, which showed DNA fragments of different sizes so we could compare. The third lane is the negative control, which was DNA that was known to not have genetically modified genes. The plant chloroplast gene showed up in this lane. However, it did not show up on the first group’s lane, and this was probably because they used soy sauce for their food. An experiment that we could conduct for further investigation is whether or not DNA can be extracted from soy sauce, and whether or not soy sauce is genetically modified. The smear in lane 6 shows that our group was able to successfully extract the DNA from the food, but it is unclear if there are any other bands besides the plant chloroplast gene. The plant chloroplast gene was 500 base pairs long, so it should have been the band on the top. The CaMV gene was 200 base pairs long, so it should have been further down the gel. The cry1F gene was 125 base pairs long so it should have traveled the farthest and been the farthest from the wells. We were able to see the plant chloroplast gene but no other bands can be