This month’s Bio-Blog Entry contains: A comment regarding my experience visiting three blogs from other BioMINDS participants and an account of two techniques that I have learned so far in biotechnological research.
In order to complete the blog entry requirements, I was assigned to visit the blogs of Yanira Marrero Rodríguez, Sheila M. González, and Laura Almodóvar. Visiting the blogs of these three students reminds me that biotechnological research is as interdisciplinary and diverse as science itself. Yanira, for example, is working in bioprocess engineering and her research goal is to develop an efficient method of converting biomass into ethanol, as means to fuel our everyday machinery. Contrary to Yanira’s alternative fuel development goal, Sheila is working in the ecological and molecular characterization of Cryptococcus neoformans in Puerto Rico, particularly focused in understanding the pathogenic routes of C. neoformans. At a difference from both Yanira’s and Sheila’s research, Laura is working in developing methods to remove heavy metals from plants in Adjuntas and Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. I also learned that although Sheila’s research appears to be rather local, the applications of her discoveries can affect crop growth and irrigation methods worldwide.
Almost three months have passed since I began working in B-266 Research Laboratory of Biotechnology and Bioprospecting. So far, I have learned a variety of molecular techniques that range from DNA electrophoresis, to preparation of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) cocktails. Electrophoresis is a commonly employed molecular protocol that focuses in separating different macromolecules such as proteins and DNA. This separation technique is achieved thanks to the mobility of ions in an electric field (Physics!). Similarly, PCR is a commonly employed molecular technique, but instead of separating DNA or proteins, it amplifies nucleic acid fragments. Typical PCR uses specific cocktails composed of enzymes, nuclease-free water, primers, and a DNA sample.
