Restriction Enzyme Lab

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Objective: This lab was done to help understand restriction enzymes and how they work. As well as comprehend the correlation between these enzymes and DNA Fragments. This lab was conducted to estimate the size of unknown DNA fragment thru agarose gel and electrophoresis. Background: A restriction enzyme is a protein that recognizes a specific, short nucleotide sequence and cuts the DNA only at that specific site, which is known as restriction site or target sequence. Restriction enzymes, found naturally in bacteria, can be used to cut DNA fragment at specific sequences, while another enzyme, DNA ligase, can attach or rejoin DNA fragments with complementary ends. A restriction fragment is a DNA fragment resulting from the cutting of a DNA strand by a restriction enzyme (restriction endonucleases), a process called restriction. While DNA fragments are separated according to their size. Proteins can be separated according to their size and their charge (different proteins have different charges). These fragments are separated by Gel electrophoresis: A solution of DNA molecules is placed in a gel. As a result of each DNA molecule is negatively charged, it can be pulled through the gel by an electric field. Small DNA molecules move more quickly through the gel than larger DNA…show more content…
Our results were altered; because we took too long to place the DNA samples into the submerged molding, it began to diffuse on its own. Also when it was time to stain it we heated the staining solution to speed up the process and that also had an effect on our results. We were still able to see six different DNA fragments versus the nine we should have seen. We then labeled and plotted them on excel showing us the slope. Our excel graph consisted of the standard DNA, the distance, and Log bp. After all the information was put in we were able to generate the graphs showing this

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