Greetings from Atlanta!

Friday, Nov 30:  What an amazing day!  I sat in the same room with Dr. Francis Collins, the person who managed the Human Genome Project at the NIH, and witnessed him give an inspirational speech about genomics, medicine, ethics, and education that ended like this:

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/l14ncHnHNp4" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /] 

Wednesday, Nov 28: Biotech enthusiasts, Nerd Fest’07 is in full-swing!  I enjoyed an informative tour of the CDC today.  The ten-pound Biosafety Level 4 plastic suit felt much heavier and far less flexible than I expected.  Here’s a picture:

                                            blue-suit.jpg

As expected, our tour of the CDC was rather limited.  Our tour guide said that security became extremely tight after the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City – prior to that, people were able to tour labs, etc.  We had to pass through airport-type security in order to access the main entrance of the building.  Although I wasn’t able to see any labs or dummy freezers, it was an exciting tour nonetheless!  One side note: As we left the CDC, I started to take a picture of the building but was stopped by a security guard who remarked, “Hey lady, you can’t just take willy nilly pictures of whatever you want!”  You’ll be glad to know that your law-abiding teacher quickly put her camera away.

Click here to see more pictures of today’s CDC tour. 

Nov 26-30: Contigs & GATTACA

November 28-30, 2007: Students are watching GATTACA and answering reflective questions.

November 27, 2007:  Students continued working on “Assembling a DNA Sequence” (students in periods 5 and 7 completed the activity). 

November 26, 2007:  Mrs. Annee announced a DNA Sequencing quiz will take place on Friday, Dec 7.  She also reminded students that extra credit book interviews are scheduled for Mon, Dec 3 – Wed, Dec 5 (each student has been assigned a specific time for his/her interview).  Students began the activity, “Assembling a DNA Sequence.”

Nov 19-21: DNA Sequencing

November 21, 2007:  Students collected data from electropherograms and analyzed it while completing the Internet assignment, “Black, Green, Blue, and Red: The Colors of DNA!”  Students used GenBank to search for DNA sequences derived from the electropherograms.

November 20, 2007:  Students in period 1 completed the “That BLASTn DNA!” assignment, whereas students in periods 5 and 7 finished the DNA sequencing notes (automated sequencing using fluorescent dyes was discussed).

November 19, 2007:  Students in periods 5 and 7 completed the Internet activity called “That BLASTn DNA!”  by searching GenBank for the DNA sequences that were derived from autoradiographs.  Question of the Day:  The sequence data from autorad 4 revealed a mixture of bacterial plasmid and human DNA.  What were the scientists doing in their lab?  Was it something sinister or is there a more benign explanation?

Nov 12-16: DNA Sequencing

November 16, 2007:  Mrs. Annee is in Greensboro, NC participating in a pharmacology project sponsored by Duke University.  Students and parents may read a summary of the project in the September 28, 2007 issue of Science (wow!) – the article is posted on Edline.  Biotech students will field-test many of the activities involved in the project. 

Students in periods 1 and 5 will begin watching the video, Designer Babies.  Period 7 students do not have class (PRT). 

November 15, 2007:  Mrs. Annee returned the restriction mapping quizzes to students.  Students in period 1 collected data from autoradiographs, whereas students in periods 5 and 7 used the NCBI database to search for the DNA sequences collected from the autorads.

November 14, 2007:  All students took the restriction mapping quiz.   Students in period 7 finished the Designer Babies video.

November 13, 2007:  Mrs. Annee was not at school today due to the Milken award announcements.  Students in periods 1 and 5 did not meet today (PRT class), whereas students in period 7 began watching the video, Designer Babies.

November 12, 2007:  Mrs. Annee gave students a practice problem in preparation for Wednesday’s restriction mapping quiz.  Students completed the DNA Sequencing (Sanger Method) activity.  Students in periods 5 and 7 also collected data from autoradiographs.

Due to a professional commitment tomorrow, Mrs. Annee will not be at school.  Periods 1 and 5 biotech will not meet (PRT class); however, period 7 biotech will meet as usual.

Nov 5-8: DNA Sequencing

November 9, 2007:  School not in session due to ISACS conference for faculty and staff.

November 8, 2007:  Mrs. Annee returned the DNA Extraction & Quantification quiz and announced that the Restriction Mapping quiz will be postponed until Wed, Nov 14.  Mrs. Annee reviewed the Sanger method of DNA sequencing and students continued their DNA Sequencing activity. 

November 7, 2007: Students took the DNA Extraction & Quantification quiz and analyzed the Analysis of a Genome Segment lab. 

November 6, 2007: Mrs. Annee continued the notes on DNA Sequencing.  Students began the DNA Sequencing activity. 

November 5, 2007:  Mrs. Annee gave students a practice problem in preparation for Wednesday’s DNA Extraction & Quantification quiz.  She also distributed a third set of optional restriction mapping practice problems with an answer key attached so students are able to check their work.  Students predicted the number of fragments and their respective sizes for lanes 1 and 2 of the gel used in the Analysis of a Genome Segment lab.  Students also began taking notes on DNA Sequencing.