Edvotek Investigating Synthetic Biology

Teach your students about synthetic biology with this exciting and exclusive lab! Students use PCR to amplify the coding sequence of the BSMT1 enzyme. This interesting enzyme is responsible for the formation of methyl salicylate, a chemical with a strong "wintergreen" odor. The PCR product is purified, restriction digested, and inserted into a plasmid vector. The resulting recombinant DNA is then used to transform E. coli BactoBeads. Finally, students design an experiment to express the enzyme from their transformants and perform a smell test to confirm that the bacterial factories are working! Expt. 331