Materials

Pipettes These handy devices allow us to measure precise amounts of volume. They measure microlitres (µL), and come in a variety of sizes - from 1000µL to 10µL. We use these for the majority of our lab work.

Centrifuge The centrifuge uses centrifugal force (created by spinning) to serparate liquids into levels - the heaviest go to the bottom and the lightest remain on top. We used this to isolate the DNA of samples of tissue.

Spectrophotometer The spectrophotometer measures optical density - it shines a light through a sample of DNA mixed in water, and we can find out how much DNA is in there. This number allows us to see the quality of the DNA sample, and calculate how much of the DNA/water mixture is needed to use in the PCR machine.

PCR Machine The PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) machine was used for two purposes. The first was to amplify the amount of DNA extracted so we had more to deal with. We did this by putting in buffers and reagents with the DNA, and it separated the two helixes of all the DNA, then copied each one. It did this until the desired amount of DNA had been reached. The second purpose was to apply restrictive enzymes, which cut up the DNA into pieces. This will be explained in the "Methodology" section.

Electrophoresis Machine The electrophroesis machine is used to take DNA, and put it into a gel. The gel is then scanned into the computer using x-rays. The electrophroesis machine uses electricity to move DNA through the gel. Depending on the size of the pieces of DNA, they will move at different speeds. This allows us to analyze the DNA. See "Methodology" for more information.

Agarose and Polyacrylamide Gels The electrophoresis machine uses gel - the gel is what the DNA travels through. We used two types of gel, agarose, shown being prepared at the right, and polyacrylamide. The main differences between the two is that polyacrylamide gave us better results, and uses a vertical electrophoresis machine.