Stony Brook University's Biotechnology Teaching Laboratory at the Center for Science and Mathematics Education recently hosted a group of Advanced Placement Biology students from Earl L. Vandermeulen High School in Port Jefferson.
Teacher Laurie McMillen summarized the students' trip: "In the bacterial transformation lab, the students inserted a plasmid, a small piece of DNA, that contained a gene for antibiotic resistance and a jellyfish gene for florescence into E. coli bacteria. The bacteria glowed when viewed under a black light, which proved that the students had successfully inserted the plasmid into the bacteria.”
The students also analyzed factors that can affect the function of restriction enzymes in a separate lab activity.