This lesson is centered around the Bio-Rad pGLO Bacterial Transformation Kit. Students will examine how a gene and associated trait from one organism can be isolated, transferred to another organism and replicated. Bio-Rad pGLO is an amazimg product.  The lab is structured in easy, clear steps and comes with almost all of the needed materials.

Additional materials that are required but not included are most likely already in your lab; UV lamps, microwave, thermometers, 1 Liter flasks, 500 ml graduated cylindars, ice and bleach

This lesson introduces the process of using recombinant DNA by using paper models to represent how a human gene such as the gene for insulin can be inserted into a bacterial plasmid.  This lesson is a great introduction to recombinant DNA technology, especially before doing a real transformation.

Students will explore and practice aspects of bioprospecting.  The main objective will be to develop an effective herbicide that has been isolated from the environment.   This lesson can also be used for an introduction to the scientific method in an inquiry-based setting where students will learn the use of proper controls and experimental treatments.

Students will isolate microbes from the environment.  They will also learn about the benefits of bacteria in the biotech industry.

Students will explore different careers in Biotechnology and make a presentation on a specfic profession.  Students will look at pros and cons of the job, education level, salary, companies who are hiring, and watch videos of individuals who work in that career. 

This activity will be used in a Biotechnology skills-based class.  Students enrolled in the class have already successfully completed Biology.  Therefore, the students range between sophomores, juniors, and seniors.This technology is evolving from the original sequencing of the human genome and teaches the concepts of DNA Sequencing.

Students will use two online free websources to design primers to help identify segments of DNA common in human diseases.  This lesson would be a portion of a larger polymerase chain reaction (PCR) unit.

The two websites students will use are National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ and University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) Genome Bowser at http://genome.ucsc.edu./.

The goal of this exercise is to develop a simple means of estimating numbers of phytoplankton cells at sea.  Ship time is expensive and many scientists turn green when counting microalgae with a microscope in an ocean-going lab that is swaying with the swell.   If the phytoplankton could be sampled remotely this would allow bodies of water to be sampled continuously, regardless of the weather or the season.  Alternatively this system could be designed for algae-based biofuel production.