Otter+Olives

Team Members: Sarah J Paul B

=DNA Extraction From Human Cheek Cells Lab= The 5 elements that make up DNA are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorous. DNA’s job is to direct the functioning within the cells of your body. The long strands of the double-helical wrap around proteins, then fold back onto themselves, and coil into compact chromosomes. The cell lysis solution is used to free DNA. When alcohol is added slowly and it precipitates to the sports drink/alcohol interface and you will be able to see the own DNA. Chromosomal DNA from a single cell cannot be seen with a naked eye. When chromosomal DNA is extracted from many cells, the amassed quantity can easily be seen and looks like mucous-like, translucent cotton. DNA is referred to as your genetic fingerprint because your DNA is like no one else’s in the world. Scientists, lawyers use DNA to help investigate criminals, paternity suits and cloning, use the functions of DNA from day to day.
 * What are the 5 elements that make up DNA?
 * What is the function of DNA from day to day?
 * Describe how long strands of double-helical DNA fit into the nucleus of a single cheek cell.
 * What was the purpose of using the cell lysis solution?
 * Why does the DNA become visible once the alcohol is added?
 * If DNA is so thin, how is it that we are able to see it during this simple lab exercise?
 * Why is DNA referred to as your genetic fingerprint?
 * Give some examples of how DNA is used everyday.

Best example of DNA.

=DNA Replication Model =





The two bases Adenine and Guanine are what is Purines, and the bases Thymine and Cytosine are what are Pyrimidines. One Purine and one Pyrimidine must pair up such as Guanine and Cytosine pair together, and Adenine and Thymine pair together. First to break the hydrogen you need helicase, which is an enzyme that breaks apart DNA. You basically have the two strands and they begin to split apart and the bonds between the two are still present. The place where the DNA strands begin to split is the replication fork. The strand that is on the top is the leading strand and the strand beneath is the lagging strand. Then single stranded binding proteins keep the DNA strands from coming back together.

In the next step Primase which, is an enzyme, attaches to the strand to create a starting point. Then the polymerase which, is also an enzyme, binds and begins to replicate the DNA.

In the replication of a lagging strand all of the steps remain the same except it is changed a little because during DNA replication the new strands of DNA have to be made in a 5’ to 3’ direction. On the leading strand the process occurs in a straight continuous line. However, the lagging strand has to be done in small sections, as the direction of the replication must still be 5’ to 3’. Therefore, the fragments of DNA called okazaki fragments appear. They are later on joined using the enzyme ligase to form a completely new DNA strand.

Replication occurs during the S-subphase of Interphase in mitosis. During replication, telomerase, a ribonucleoprotein enzyme is used to add a DNA sequence to the 3” end of DNA strands in the telomere region. This telomere region is a piece of repetitive nucleotide sequences ( base, sugar, and phosphate) at the end of a chromosome, which protects the end of the chromosome from deterioration or from fusion with neighboring chromosomes. Cancer is essentially a disease of mitosis. Cancer occurs when the normal “checkpoints” regulating mitoses are ignored or overridden by the cancer cell. It begins when a single cell is converted from a normal cell to a cancer cell. This can be cause by Aging, which is the production of toxic oxygen or “free radicals.” They cause mutations in genes, which can cause cancer. Cloning is pretty much the same thing as replication. The main difference is that DNA replication is a natural process and DNA cloning is a lab based, man-made process. In replication the original cell has to replicate its DNA first, then divide the replicated DNA evenly between the two new cells. With cloning, a foreign piece of DNA with special information is put into a circular DNA that acts as a carrier of the genetic information. This circular DNA is called a vector and it allows the replication and transfer of the DNA from one organism to another.





Cited Sources: (Pictures) Siblings: [] Twins: [] Jurassic Park: [] Flowers for Algernon: [] Chromosome: []

=Medaka Infographic=

=**Diaper Dissection**= Did you know there are five layers in a disposable diaper and it can absorb a total of 221 mL of liquid? Most people don’t even think about how a diaper is made or what different parts of the diaper do, but after dissecting one, it is interesting to see how it is really put together. The first two layers of the diaper, or the inside layers, seem to be for holding the diaper together. They feel like a drier sheet and only hold about ½ mL each. It doesn’t seem like they were meant for absorbing liquids. The middle layer is definitely the absorbent layer. It feels like sandy cotton, which seems much better than the “drier sheet layer” for absorbing liquid. It can hold 52 mL of liquid before it starts leaking through! The fourth layer is just like the first two layers. That drier sheet kind of material. The fifth layer is non-absorbent, but it is probably there to prevent a mess. It is just there to prevent the liquid from leaking out. It is a plastic type material. While disposable diapers are convenient, they are not good for the environment at all. Clearly one reason that the diapers are bad is that they are disposable and they pile up in landfills, but that is not the real problem. Disposable diapers contain petroleum-based ingredients and other harmful substances that can potentially harm animals, humans, and the environment. Do we really want to be using these diapers that have the potential to harm our families and us. Because of this, some people are choosing cloth diapers for their children