We're back in the lab for another procedure. This time, we're doing gel electrophoresis, a process in which we use dye, buffers, and DNA to find the quantity of certain lengths that the buffer cuts from the DNA. This lab required a lot of precision. If one's measurements are off or if one's movements aren't steady enough, it could yield undesirable results. We did a gel of the DNA of a virus and tested it in three different restriction enzymes and in water. In this case, the restriction enzymes that we used cut certain parts of an organism's DNA. After mixing the required solutions, making the gel, and running an electric current through the gel containing the solutions, we're able to see, through the dye, that parts of the DNA traveled further down the gel than others. Although not everyone understood what exactly happened to the DNA during the lab, we all still gained valuable experience using lab tools and following lab procedures.
Lately, I've also noticed that most of the foreign students here at Brown are very fluent in English. Some speak it so well that I would not have guessed they weren't from the United States. Maybe the U.S. should also require a foreign language as early as elementary school to keep up with the rest of the world. And on another tangent, it's raining very hard right now. The weather/climate here in Rhode Island is completely different from that of California.
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