R.I. course

Mum had signed me up for another course. Today, we went to the Raffles Institution. It was beautiful there. There were about ten blocks of buildings there. Different students from different schools all gathered at the main entrance, the Atrium. Some sec students were taking down names there. I registered and went around to explore. There was a swimming pool, a baseball court, a dining hall, even a Popular bookstore! What you want, they'll have it.

I met this guy named Triston. He was P5 and was in the same school as I was.

The sec students split us into the different courses we had signed up for. Triston, some other guys and I went off to the biology lab and were greeted by Mrs Lim, our teacher. She explained the course and the techniques we were going to use.

Started the day by learning what a forensic scientist does. Mrs Lim explained that he will look for even the smallest clues to find out who was who. We learnt that DNA could be found almost everywhere, from hair roots to tissue. He also uses gel electrophoresis to filter DNA. The DNA is negatively charged. Hence, if put in an electric current, it would travel towards the positive side. As it does, the already cut up DNA will go through the gel, leaving behind 'footprints'. Then, the matching job comes in.

Triston and I got ready the gel and filled the electrophoresis tray with liquid ions. Then, we ran the thing in an electric current of 100 V for 30 mins. After that, we dyed it blue and left it aside.

Following, we learnt about bioengineering. We learnt that for the E. coli to glow (which was what was done), we needed it to produce green glowing proteins, which requires the GFP gene. It would be in a plasmid we named pGLO. This plasmid would also have the ampicillin resistance gene and the arabinose gene, in which needs arabinose sugar to activate it and the GFP gene. To make the plasmid be taken in, calcium chloride and heat was added to make it porous. It would then immediately be put to 0 degrees C.

The next day, we saw the results of our electrophoresis. It was a failure. As for the E. coli, there were only several colonies left, but they did glow in the dark, only when we shone black light onto it. To let us do more experiments, Mrs Lim let us see E. coli under a microscope. It was like little ovals. Cute but dangerous. And smelly...

The course was very fun. I like to go to RI 'cause it's big and something worth boasting about. Readers who are P4, I hope you would enjoy it next year.