Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello, and good evening
I had a question about my science fair project which I found on sciencebuddies and I'm having a little trouble with.
The "Bacteria Transformation Efficiency" project requires me to have a transformation kit from the company bio-rad.
Bu the problem is that bio-rad only sells a kit with 32 sets! The kit is supposed to be for a class. I only need one set for my project and the cost for 32 sets is also more in cost (which i also want my kit to be less in).
Do you know of any websites that have a transformation kit equivalent and maybe somewhat cheaper than the bio-rad one?
If not, do you know where I can buy the materials, that are part of the transformation kit, seperately as maybe refills or something?
Please let me know f you have a solution to how I may obtain a pGLO bacterial transformation kit.
I will be awaiting your reply, Thanks.
-cai8

Hello, again
Would you by any chance know the measurements of each matgerial that would meet the needs of the experiment.
How much pGLO plasmid, Arabinose, Ampicillin, LB nutrient broth, LB agar powder, and all the other materials in the transformation kit do we need? (please tell me the measurements of each material
please reply asap. Thanks

Hello,

The amount of materials will depend on the breadth of your experiment. How many trials are you going to do?

Thanks,
Nithin T

Hi Cai8,

This is a fascinating topic for a science project! In my experience, I have found that companies will sometimes donate materials to students who are doing science fair projects. Since you only need part of a kit, I recommend that you contact Bio-Rad and see if they can help you. The technical support number is 1-800-876-3425, ext 6774. It definitely won’t hurt to ask. You can ask a parent to call if you prefer, and you should ask for the materials to be sent to your teacher, so be sure to have the school address available.

Donna Hardy

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply.
I greatly appreciate it!

Hello!

Does this project need approval with the SRC before i start with the experiment. I will start the experiment in a few weeks. Also, the website of sciencebuddies says that it can only send to schools, but when i go to the website it looks like i'm allowed to but only after i make an account. Has it changed or am i just looking at it in a different way? The project can be found at https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ml#summary.

Thanks,
Arnlan

Hi Arnlan,

Please in future create your own thread for questions. It makes it easier if each student's questions and answers are separate so we can keep track of which answers correspond to which person's project--even when the projects are similar. Thanks.

In response to your question, yes BioRad creates accounts but not for individuals--only institutions. You can contact the BioRad tech support group with questions about the kit and you can ask customer service if they will donate some materials for your project, but they still have to be shipped to your school--not to you. Were you planning on doing these experiments in a university lab under the guidance of a mentor? If so then they could provide you with some of the needed reagents and the equipment (pipetters, sterile tubes and media, etc) to do the experiments.

If you have more questions about the details of the project please repost in a separate thread.

Good luck!

Sybee

Hello

I don't know any other place i could place my message.
Yes, i will be doing this project in an university. It will just look good on me if i have the materials needed.

Thanks!