All living things are made of cells and share the same basic cellular machinery. This simple fact is what underlies the "Biotechnology Revolution," which has given scientists the ability to create new transgenic crops that are resistant to insect pests, plant viruses, or herbicides. They have also been able to amplify tiny amounts of DNA in order to identify disease-causing bacteria or viruses, and even the identity of a criminal suspect. Explore these subjects even further with some of the following topics found in the Project Ideas below:
Information about an organism based on DNA analysis
Chemical reactions and pathways that are important in living organisms
Modern genetic engineering techniques (such as isolating and/or manipulating DNA)
How do scientists "copy" DNA? They use a process called the Polymerase Chain Reaction, or PCR. The key to making this process work is having a primer that will stick to the piece of DNA you want to copy, called a template. In this experiment you will test how the number of matches and mismatches in a primer will affect its ability to stick, or anneal, to the DNA template during PCR.
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Ever used a pair of molecular scissors? Restriction enzymes are molecular scissors that cut DNA into pieces. Find out which enzymes will cut, and where by making a restriction map. Then you can figure out what will happen if you change the sequence of the DNA. Will the same enzymes still cut the new DNA sequence?
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Do you like solving mysteries? In this experiment, you can find out how a DNA fingerprint can help you figure out whodunit. The answer might just be in the "sequence" of events!
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What are antibodies? How are they formed? How can they be used to identify different types of cells? This project is a practical introduction to the immune system.
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What do pizza, milk shakes, and ice cream sundaes have in common, besides being delicious and loaded with calories? You might be surprised to learn that these foods, because they contain dairy products, cannot be eaten by the majority of people around the world. Dairy products contain the sugar molecule lactose, and the majority of people on the planet slowly begin to lose the ability to digest lactose after the age of 2. In this human biology and health science fair project, you will investigate the activity of lactase, the enzyme responsible for the ability to digest lactose.
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In this project, you'll learn how to isolate DNA from onion cells, separating it from other cellular components in a manner that still preserves its structure and sequence. In the end, you'll have enough DNA to see with the unaided eye, and you'll be able to spool it to demonstrate its strand-like structure.
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Enzymes speed up chemical reactions by factors of at least a million. Now that's acceleration! This project investigates some of the factors that affect how fast enzymatic reactions occur.
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When biologists want to separate different pieces of DNA, RNA, or proteins they use a technique called gel electrophoresis. In this science project you'll build a gel electrophoresis chamber and use it to discover how many components are in different colors of food coloring dye.
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Imagine seeing waves glowing a beautiful blue color. The marine dinoflagellate Pyrocystis lunula is responsible for this magnificent phenomenon. Pyrocystis lunula is a bioluminescent organism—bioluminescence is the production of light by living organisms. But does this organism always glow, no matter what the conditions, such as how much light there is? In this biotechnology science fair project, you will investigate how altering this dinoflagellate's exposure to light and dark affects its bioluminescence.
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