Coli strand. Transformation is the process in which there is a genetic alteration in a cell from uptaking genetic material from the environment. This can affect the gene expression or the product that is produced after transcribing the information within the gene. The products then produced can be measured by a method known as enzyme assay that measures enzyme activity using the absorbance of the solution in a spectrometer. A spectrometer records the absorbance of a certain light wave as it passes through a solution. To get to these products, we used agents such as X-Gal, Ampicillin, and ONPG to get our desired results. 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-idolyl-b-D-galactoside (X-Gal) is used on the agar plates that the transformed cells are placed on because when digested by beta-galactosidase it produces a blue component part that is visual to the naked eye. The X-Gal can only be digested if the gene encoding beta-galactosidase is fully functional meaning if there is blue then the transformation was successful. The other agent on the some of the agar plates is Ampicillin, which is an antibiotic that kills E. Coli. This is used to select the bacteria that take up the plasmid during transformation because any cells that haven’t taken up the plasmid will be unable to survive in an ampicillin environment. The o-nitrophenyl-beta-D-galactoside (ONPG) is a synthetic analog of glucose …show more content…
Coli is used very commonly by other researchers and companies. Pharmaceutical companies use it to go drugs like insulin in large quantities to sell to the public. Researchers use it to invent most of the drugs that the pharmacy companies are using but also to see how other traits would act in different bacteria. Another procedure that could be done in the same manner as this one could be the LUX operon, which is the transcriptions of genes to create bioluminescent products (Swarztman, 1990). This can be used to allow organisms or other bacteria to glow such as fish or worms. Like this procedure where no bacteria grows if transformation failed it would be easy to tell what went wrong by whether or not there are luminescent parts. This could be done by purifying proteins as we did in this lab to determine whether or not the luminescent protein is functional and if not transferring it via