1. University of Puerto Rico
RISE Program
Cayey, Puerto Rico
BIOL 4997 – 2013Laboratory Summaries
Importance and Pipetting Practice
The micropipette is a laboratory instrument used to transfer a measured
volume of a liquid. It is used in different analytical techniques. There are two
types of micropipettes that are generally used: air-displacement pipettes and
positive-displacement pipettes. We used air-displacement micropipettes that are
piston-driven and dispense an adjustable volume of liquid from a disposable tip.
During this workshop we learned how to correctly use micropipettes that were
from different volumes with their correspondent tips. By using different
volumes we also had to decide, according to the amount of liquid that was
required, which micropipette was the most adequate to have a precise, or as
close as possible, sample. We were also tested on our ability to follow
instructions and to work in teams. To work in a laboratory doing research,
means to become part of a web of knowledge where everybody, as coworkers,
shares it to achieve a common goal. That is why micropipeting is a fundamental
and basic technique for biology and general research, as well as collaborative
work.
Microscopy and Photomicrography
When things are not visible to the naked eye we use microscopes. The
first microscope was made by Hans and Zacharias Janssen in 1590 and from
there many other scientists like Robert Hooke and Anton Van Leeuwenhoek have
used them to make some of the most important discoveries for humanity.
Microscopes can be separated into several classes, mostly because of what they
use to generate an image. The three most well known are optical microscopes,
electron microscopes (scanning and transmission), and scanning probe
microscopes. During this workshop we used optical microscopes with different
types of light microscopy and micro-techniques. I was assigned to observe
Tillandsia trichomes under dark field microscopy using a whole-mount micro-

2. technique. Dark field microscopy uses light from an angle where it only
illuminates the specimen and its background is completely dark. Microscope
development has abled humans to evolve and also to increase and expand our
knowledge, not being retained by size anymore. Without microscopes, humanity
wouldn’t be the same; as for they allow us to see a complete different world that
is not visible to the naked eye.
Workshop University of North Carolina (UNC) - From DNA to Protein
The principal purpose of this workshop was for us to learn and apply
techniques in molecular biology using previous biological knowledge and
combining it with hands-on-work. We refreshed our knowledge of the central
dogma, from DNA to proteins and expanded it with specific terminologies that
lead us to understand more clearly the different mechanisms of our body. On the
first day, we extracted our own DNA utilizing products that are available to the
general public like Gatorade and Contact Lens cleaning solution. During the
second day we did PCR to determine if we had samples from patients who were
infected with diabetes. Viewing the PCR results requires you to make an agarose
gel that revealed that if our patient was positive or not for diabetes. The third
day, we run an SDS-PAGE gel to determine if some samples presented a
Lysosomal Storage Disorder (LSD). After denaturing the protein and running the
gels, in the PCR machine that used an electricity current to separate de particles,
we found out that our patient was positive for LSD, specifically diabetes. These
techniques enable us determine clearly different diseases that may affect our
DNA, and also to identify our DNA. To round up the workshop we were oriented
about graduate school, different roles that exist in a lab, and the research our
mentors were doing. From DNA to protein was a multidisciplinary workshop
that pushed us to be better scientists.