Tomatoes on Steroids

Intro:

     Foods such as tomatoes are the most popular subjects to be genetically modified. Our resources on things such as food are becoming scarce due to over consumption, and many think that our last hope may be the use of GMOs. But others oppose the use of GMOs due to them being too artificial. Also, GMOs may pose health concerns due to their side affects. But the idea of genetically modified organisms is not a new sensation. Farmers have been modifying their crops against pesticides, disease, and limited growth for centuries.

     How are genes made? Well is all starts with the gene of interest (GOI). The GOI is taken from the plasmid and put into the agro bacteria. Once that is done, the GOI along with the bacteria is inserted into the plant cell. This is how scientists/farmers create plants that become resistant to many things such as harsh weather, insects, or even disease. GMOs are identified mainly by a Polymerase Chain Reaction, also known as PCR. During PCR, sequences of DNA that are inserted into the GM plant are identified.    

Procedure:

Day 1

     In our lab we will be testing a corn flower substance and orange to see if they are genetically modified. Our first step is to weigh out 0.5-2 g of each sample and then grind down them down with a mortar after adding 5 ml of distilled water. Once this is done we will pipet them into 6 different test tube. Then we will place them in a 95 degree water bath for approximately 5 minutes. Lastly we will place them in a refrigerator until the next day.

Day 2

     On the second day we place our six test tubes in capless microtube adaptors and place them in an ice bath. Then we add the master mix to each PCR tube, and once that is done, we add the indicated DNA to each PCR tube. We mix these two substances by pipetting up and down. 

Day 3

     On our last day of the lab we start our gel electrophoresis. First we add Orange G loading dye to each sample and mix. once this is done, we load our six dyes in the gel. After, Mr. Chugh loaded our control in lane 7. We then stained the gel. These are the results below.

Results:

     As you can see, in lane 6 and 5 there is a very clear band at  200 bp. These two lanes represented the corn flower that was provided to us. Further along in lanes 4 and 3, it is hard to tell, but the orange that we used also came up on the 200 bp band. This proves that both samples we used in the lab tested positive for GMO.