What Was This Project?
For our final project of the year, we were given a lot more freedom with it. Our goal was to solve a problem in the world by creating a product that used biotechnology. This project was designed to get us to reflect on past topics and concepts from throughout the year and to apply them in a new way. My group (consisting of myself and Tanner Spence) decided to try to tackle the issue of famine in Africa. The solution we chose to pursue is to genetically modify corn and soybean seeds to be drought resistant, as drought is a major obstacle of growing crops on the continent. We came to this conclusion after researching the limitations to solving the issue of famine and compelling a list of biotechnological solutions before deciding on this solution. As a part of this solution, we also made an instructional booklet to help those unfamiliar with farming learn how. On this page, you can find our final presentation, our instructional booklet, the stages of our project, a list of terms that are related to the project, and my reflection.
Our Presentation:
Our Instructional Booklet:
The Stages Of Our Project:
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Concepts Used In This Project:
CRISPR Technology- An effective process that allows for the editing of genetic information. In our project, we use CRISPR technology to modify our seeds.
Genetically Modified Organism (GMOs)- Any organism that has had its traits artificially alerted to have the most beneficial genes. In our project, the seeds are genetically modified to be drought resistant, meaning their are GMOs.
DREB1/CBF- A gene found in plants such as yarrow, Russian sage, and English lavender that allows these plants need less water, making them drought-resistant. In our project, this is the gene we want to insert into our seeds to make them drought-resistant.
Gene Gun- A certain device that delivers genetic information into cell using a small piece of DNA coated metal. This ties into our project, as this is one of the methods of gene insertion we want to test.
Heat Shock Method- A process used in order to get foreign entities into an organism. It consists of the entity and the organism being cooled with ice, then briefly putting them into a heat bath "shocking" them, and putting them back in ice. This is the second method of gene insertion we want to test.
Viral Transduction- A method of inserting genetic information into a cell through a virus. The virus is made of a protein coat that contains DNA. This is yet another method of gene insertion that we want to test.
Micropipette- A common scientific tool used for transporting liquids. This instrument is used at various points in the process of genetically modifying the seeds.
CaCl2- Also known as Calcium Chloride, is an inorganic compound that is highly soluble in water. It is mostly used for de-icing and road maintenance. We use it during the heat shock portion of the project, as it helps effectively operate the process.
Pictogram- Also known as a pictograph, it is a picture that symbolizes a word, phrase, concept, or idea. A common example of one is a stop sign. The instruction booklet we made for this project consists of pictograms.
Famine- A widespread shortage of food within a given area. Famines can be caused by a variety of factors such as drought, crop failure, and population issues. This relates to our project as our goal is to end the various famines that plague Sub-Saharan Africa.
Nitrogen Fixation- The chemical process in which nitrogen from the atmosphere is converted into ammonia, or nitrogen in the soil. In our project, we note that this is an ability we want our seeds to have.
Chipping- A method of extracting genes, by chipping of a small part of a seed and converting it into a powder. In our project, this is how we're going to extract the DREB1/CBF out of the flower.
Genetically Modified Organism (GMOs)- Any organism that has had its traits artificially alerted to have the most beneficial genes. In our project, the seeds are genetically modified to be drought resistant, meaning their are GMOs.
DREB1/CBF- A gene found in plants such as yarrow, Russian sage, and English lavender that allows these plants need less water, making them drought-resistant. In our project, this is the gene we want to insert into our seeds to make them drought-resistant.
Gene Gun- A certain device that delivers genetic information into cell using a small piece of DNA coated metal. This ties into our project, as this is one of the methods of gene insertion we want to test.
Heat Shock Method- A process used in order to get foreign entities into an organism. It consists of the entity and the organism being cooled with ice, then briefly putting them into a heat bath "shocking" them, and putting them back in ice. This is the second method of gene insertion we want to test.
Viral Transduction- A method of inserting genetic information into a cell through a virus. The virus is made of a protein coat that contains DNA. This is yet another method of gene insertion that we want to test.
Micropipette- A common scientific tool used for transporting liquids. This instrument is used at various points in the process of genetically modifying the seeds.
CaCl2- Also known as Calcium Chloride, is an inorganic compound that is highly soluble in water. It is mostly used for de-icing and road maintenance. We use it during the heat shock portion of the project, as it helps effectively operate the process.
Pictogram- Also known as a pictograph, it is a picture that symbolizes a word, phrase, concept, or idea. A common example of one is a stop sign. The instruction booklet we made for this project consists of pictograms.
Famine- A widespread shortage of food within a given area. Famines can be caused by a variety of factors such as drought, crop failure, and population issues. This relates to our project as our goal is to end the various famines that plague Sub-Saharan Africa.
Nitrogen Fixation- The chemical process in which nitrogen from the atmosphere is converted into ammonia, or nitrogen in the soil. In our project, we note that this is an ability we want our seeds to have.
Chipping- A method of extracting genes, by chipping of a small part of a seed and converting it into a powder. In our project, this is how we're going to extract the DREB1/CBF out of the flower.
Reflection:
This project was certainly one of the funniest projects we did this year, as there was more freedom to branch out. This project went mostly well, with its share of successes and failures. One aspect that went well was our detail. For our project, I felt like we did a good job fleshing out our plan and providing enough detail. This can especially be seen in the amount of detail we put into making a concept instruction booklet and in describing how we are going to air drop the goods. Another thing that well with this project was sharing the workload evenly. Both me and my partner did an even amount of work, without one person having to do more than the other.
While there were good parts to our project, there were also some weaker parts. Firstly, we did wasted our time bickering on trivial matters. During the project, we spent time discussing some of the smaller details on the project, that could have gone to doing more research on the core of the project. Once such instance is when we argued over what the logo of our fake company would look like. Another thing that went poorly was time management. While this does connect to the first point, this is a more broad. Since it is the end of the school year, it was a bit more challenging to be productive 100% of the time. These will both be things to work on going into next year.
While there were good parts to our project, there were also some weaker parts. Firstly, we did wasted our time bickering on trivial matters. During the project, we spent time discussing some of the smaller details on the project, that could have gone to doing more research on the core of the project. Once such instance is when we argued over what the logo of our fake company would look like. Another thing that went poorly was time management. While this does connect to the first point, this is a more broad. Since it is the end of the school year, it was a bit more challenging to be productive 100% of the time. These will both be things to work on going into next year.