1. Complete Laboratory Summaries
Summary 1. Importance and Pipetting Practice
In the summer part of RISE we learner how to use micropipettes. However, we
did not use them at all in the second part of the RISE component. Therefore, in this
laboratory, we reviewed how to use micropipettes. Micropipettes are more exact than
normal pipets therefore making them a better option to use for an experiment. However,
micropipettes are fragile and must be handled carefully. You must always maintain it
facing down so that the micropipette is not contaminated with any substance. To
remember how to handle them, we mixed solutions of water and color dyes to form other
colors. Depending on the quantities of each color and the water added was the result you
obtained. This lab helped us to learn how to control a micropipette. We learned how to
obtain a quantity correctly and what to do and not to do with a micropipette. This lab was
helpful for the upcoming ones.
Summary 2. Microscopy and Photomicrography
In this laboratory, we reviewed microscopy and learned how to prepare a picture
using the techniques. We also reviewed how to use a microscope. I was placed in the
Fluorescence microscopy group. With this microscopy we were able to see the
fluorescence of a couple of things like paper and leaves. With this technique, we used
four different types of fluorescence colors. With each color, the specimen looked
different, and some specimens looked better under a specific fluorescence color. The
other microscopy technique that I learned was the Bright Field microscopy. Bright Field
microscopy is pretty similar to fluorescence except that it does not have UV light. The
tricky part about it is that you have to adjust the lighting very well so that you can see the
image clearly. Also, to take a picture with the camera attached to the microscope, all you
have to do is plug it in, open the Qcapture program in the computer and, once the image
is how you want it, snap the picture.

2. Summary 3. Workshop UNC - From DNA to Protein
This workshop consisted of three days. The first day each one of us extracted our
own DNA cells from our mouths. We did this by swirling Gatorade in our mouths for a
couple of seconds and then spitting it in a test tube. Afterwards, we added liquid
detergent, contact cleaning solution and alcohol so that we could pass what had formed,
which was cells accumulated, to another test tube. On the second day, we determined if a
patient had diabetes. First, we created an agarose gel in which we would then include our
samples. The first step to creating the sample was to create a master mix. Afterwards, we
mixed, in different P.C.R. tubes, the master mix and the positive control, negative
control, and the patient. You compared the patient’s gel run with the positive and control
and determined if it had diabetes or not. What we did on the third day was similar to the
second day, only that we made an SDS-PAGE gel and we had to determine which of the
patients had lysosomal storage disorder according to the biomarkers expressed in the gel.
Summary 4. Nanotechnology and Electron Microscopy
In this laboratory, we learned about nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is used to
develop materials and devices in a nanometric scale that benefits others. The nanometric
scale is for those particles that exist than are less than 100 nanometers. This technology
benefits mostly the are-volume ratio. Using nanotechnology is a good technique because
it has more surface area that can be studied and used for reactions to occur on. Also, it is
more sensitive, has more superficial forces, and quantic confinement. Nanotechnology is
being used a lot for biomedical advances. We were educated on its use for hydroxyapatite
for bones. During this lab, we were able to see and use an electron microscope with
nanoparticles. With the microscope, we took some pictures of some fibers that we also
created. Having this technology allows us to develop, like we did in the lab for example,
fibers for bones.
Summary 5. Column Chromatography and SDS-Page
This laboratory was related to the last one due to the nanoparticles that we worked
with. However, we used magnetic nanoparticles to isolate a protein because they’re easier
to separate from other solids. Magnetic nanoparticles are also fast, gentle, scalable, and

3. easily automated. In this laboratory, we used micropipetting techniques, sonication, and
decanting (magnetic decantation). All of these were used so that we could isolate
Plasminogen Activator from mammalian cell culture broth using magnetic affinity
nanoadsorbents. The isolation starts from the media, then it is washed three times with
Binding buffer, and then it is eluted three times with PABA Elution buffer. Afterwards,
the samples of each steps of the isolation are processed in a spectrophotometer to obtain
the absorption number. When a protein that wants to be studied is isolated, it can be very
useful because it is in its purest form and it can be used for therapeutics, dietary
supplements, structure studies, and as catalysts.
Summary 6. Protein – Protein Interactions: an Insilico approach
This laboratory educated is on the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) process
that all drugs must undergo to be approved. Shortly said, it must follow these steps: Drug
Discovery and Development, Clinical Trials, FDA Reviews the NDA (New Drug
Application), and Manufacturing. There are four basic pharmacological parameters that
must be considered of every drug and these are: absorption, distribution, metabolism, and
excretion. This begins the topic of Insilico drug discovery, which is basically the design
or discovery of small molecules that are complementary in shape and charge to the bio-
molecular target. As part of the lab, my group did the last part of the experiment, which
was the secondary screening. Using a databases dock, we obtained the drugs we could
use. Afterwards we ranked the top hits of the databases and we analyzed four of the top
drugs with the macromolecule to see how it would interact with it. Having this
technology allows us to know in advance how molecules will interact in an active site of
a macromolecule.
Summary 7. Phages & Proteomics
Bateriophages are viruses that infect bacteria that are made up of a head,
containing all of its genetic material, and a tail. Phages can have two different life cycles:
the lysogenic cycle and the lytic cycle. In the lysogenic life cycle, the phage infects the
host, integrates its genome and propagates with the host chromosome. In the lytic cycle,
the phage infects the host, copies its DNA, makes new virions, lyses the cell and escapes.

4. The purpose of this laboratory work is to isolate and characterize a new phage. Each of us
had to bring in a soil sample, enrich it, harvest it and plaque it in order to see if we could
find phages in our sample. If positive results were obtained, the next part of the
experiment included three plaque purifications (to obtain a pure phage), second
enrichment and filtration, medium titer assay (dilutions in order to obtain a web pattern,
which is the arrangement of plaques in which almost all of the bacteria was lysed), high
titer assay, SDS page gel (for protein analysis), and DNA sequencing. This research has
importance in the field of biomedicine for the elimination of antibiotic resistant bacteria
and for the creation of phage therapy.
Summary 8. Water sampling, testing, and statistical application
There were two parts of this laboratory. The first part was the introduction to the
water quality testing subject and the second part was the actual laboratory experiment. So
what is water quality and how is it affected? For water to be of good quality, it must
contain certain factors such as: small amounts of mycrobes, small amounts of cloudiness
(in other words, clearness), neutral pH, good flavor, etc. However, these factors may be
affected by others such as the environment because of natural factors like rain,
vegetation, soil and topography, climate, temperature, and animals. Another factor that
affects water quality are the human variable because of man made industries,
agricultures, and non-point source contamination. As part of the experiment, each student
had to take a water sample from a water source. We were instructed to fill a 100ml
container with water that was not from superficial surface, contained no sediment, and
that was running for two minutes against the tide. In the lab, we tested the sample for
total coliforms to obtain the water quality of the water source from which the sample was
taken from.