LABS 2&3 MINI REPORT

Refer to the general guidelines for Mini Lab Reports on Canvas, found here (link opens in a new tab): Lab Mini Reports

Methods

You are only reporting on lab 3 procedure and Part 3 of the lab 2 procedure, i.e. the PCR. Do not report anything from the pipette practice and primer design exercises.

It is difficult to include the right amount of detail in a Methods section. Remember that the goal is to provide enough detail that someone with a scientific background could repeat your experiment. You do not need to write out detailed protocols.

For your first few mini lab reports, we will tell you exactly which details to include. Gradually, you will be expected to include appropriate information more independently.

Be sure to include:

• Purpose statement/brief summary of the experiment (“In order to amplify the HCAII gene, …)
• Cite the lab manual
• Components added to the reactions: for most components, report the final concentrations. DNA and Phusion should be reported as the total amount per reaction (in nanograms and units, respectively).
• Sequences of the primers you used, pointing out which sequences are vector vs. insert
• A description of the negative control
• How you visualized the DNA
• Enzyme used for digestion
• How you purified the DNA (you DO NOT need to include the full protocol for DNA purification – simply state that the DNA was purified using a spin column)
• How you measured the DNA concentration

Do NOT include:

• Details like “tubes were labeled” or “aliquots were kept on ice.” These are standard lab procedures that scientists would know to do.

If you are not sure how to write the methods section, you may use the methods section of published papers as a reference. You can do this for other sections as well.

Results

Be sure to include:

• A statement of the overall goal and/or hypothesis for the experiments.
• Figure: gel of the PCRs. Highlight bands of interest with an arrow. Label each lane and all of the size markers (for more information on the ladder: NEB quick load DNA ladder ). Your figure legend should include:
  • A figure number and short title, bolded
  • The % agarose
  • What is in each lane
  • What your box/arrow is highlighting
  • DO NOT interpret the gel in the figure legend

View the following video for tips on making a great gel figure:

• If you did not get any PCR products, you should still show and label your gel

• Text description of the PCR products:
  • Which reaction(s) yielded product
  • The apparent size of the product and whether that matches the expected size
  • Whether some reactions yielded more product than others
  • Any other observations you have about the appearance of the product
  • The concentration and purity of the purified PCR products
• The concentrations and purity of DNA in a table format (note that, like figures, table should have a legend; however, table legends go above the table. Similarly, like figures, you need to explain your table in the Results section).