BIOL 3600 Genetics Formal Lab Outline Your formal lab report for this class will

BIOL 3600 Genetics Formal Lab Outline
Your formal lab report for this class will consist of parts from labs 1-5. Essentially, it covers
a) the extraction of genomic DNA
b) PCR of mitochondrial DNA (using Josh04 and Josh05 primers)
c) gel electrophoresis of the PCR products
d) PCR product cleanup
e) restriction digestion with MseI and RsaI
f) gel electrophoresis analysis of RFLP.
If your formal lab does not cover these parts, you are going to lose marks. Use the list above as a final checklist and make sure all relevant experiments are covered.
The following is a guide on how I want you to write each section of this lab report. I am looking for quality, not quantity. Give yourself lots of time to complete this assignment. Please note that page limits (in parentheses) will be enforced – again focus on quality and not quantity.
Think of your report as telling a story. The story should read like this:
We have a problem or we need to find something – therefore we pose a question (i.e., introduction)
We employed this technique in order to address the question (i.e., methods)
We found this data/trends/results (i.e., results)
This is how our data answer our question and here is how our data fits into the greater picture of the problem (i.e., discussion)
Abstract (~300 words)
This should briefly describe the entire content of the work. What is the question you are asking? Why is important? How did you attempt to answer it? Why did you answer the question this way? What did you find? Why are your findings important?
Introduction (1.5 pages)
Set up your story here. How can you use molecular work to determine relatedness of individuals? RFLP? Strengths and weaknesses of the technique? When you have set the stage, now pose a question. Your question should address the problem or unanswered phenomenon you identified above.
You need to use literature in order to back up any claims that you make in this section. If you say something is important, why should I trust your opinion? However, if you cite literature where lots of people have said that this is important, then it makes your claim stronger.
Methods (1.5 page)
Please be as brief as possible here. For example, you used a Qiagen kit to extract genomic DNA. If you did not change the protocol associated with the kit (i.e., the one that comes in the box when you buy it) simply state ‘ We used the Genomic DNA extraction kit from Qiagen to extract DNA from cheek cells isolated from members of the BIOL 3600 class. For electrophoresis, describe the conditions (i.e., percentage of agarose, voltage, use of sybr safe etc.) but you don’t need to tell me exactly how you made the gel (e.g., 0.5g in 100mL of TAE etc).
Make sure to include how you made up the PCR and restriction digests. What thermocycler protocol did you use?
Any changes from the lab sheets need to be noted but please do not cite the lab sheets.
Results (2 pages – not including figures)
For your results section, if your experiments did not work, you need to use someone else’s data.
Please compare the sizes of the PCR products between at least 4 different people (experiment 3).
Please compared the uncut, Mse1 and Rsa1 cut PCR products within the same person. You then need to compare this to at least 4 other people. (experiment 5)
You can think about the results section in two parts: figures and written results
Written results section
In the written results section, you need to guide me through your experiments. The methods you used need to be identified briefly, tell me what resulted from the methods but do not tell me what the results mean. Make sure to reference your figures. Please write in past tense. For example:
We isolated genomic DNA from cheek cells and performed a PCR using primers josh4 and josh5 that were specific to the gene X found in the mitochondria. After PCR, 30uL of PCR product was examined using gel electrophoresis. This revealed two PCR products with sizes of 500 and 300 base pairs (Figure 1).
Please do not forget this section.
Figures
Your figure should have a title directly on them that should start with Figure 1: xxx, Figure 2: xxx etc. Your figure titles are going to have to be good. Make your figure, step back and look at it. What is this figure showing? What are the details that make this figure look the way it does? What pertinent information is on the figure that the reader needs to know?
For example, imagine you are describing a graph that plots the rate at which you are running to get to BIOL 3600 cause you just love the class but are late. Along the x-axis is time and along the y-axis, you have velocity. A title as follows would get you a solid zero:
Figure 1: Velocity versus time
This tells me nothing.
A better figure title is
Figure 1: The velocity of Katie Crump as she runs to her favorite class BIOL 3600.
See the difference 
As discussed in lab, your gels need to be labeled (ladder – 2 bands identified, all bands other than the ladder need to be sized, lanes need to be identified)
Discussion (2 pages)
In the discussion section, start by briefly summarizing your results (i.e., a few sentences). You need to then tell me what your results mean. If you saw multiple DNA bands on an RFLP, what does this mean? If you saw different sizes of DNA bands between different individuals, what does this mean? If you are inferring a cause, please use published literature to backup your claim(s). For example, if you say the sky is blue because of the sun, you need to back this claim up with additional information from the literature.
If your experiments did not work, why not? Here, human error cannot be used as an answer. Push yourself to think beyond this.
Finally, state what your results mean in the greater picture. If your had lots of different DNA bands in RFLP, what does this mean for science as a whole?
Wrap it up with a brief conclusion that directly addresses the question you posed in the introduction.
Literature Cited (no page limit)
You need at least five pieces of literature. Two of these must be primary literature (i.e., manuscriipts from journals). Any standard referencing format is just fine.