These include characterization of mutations in populations, detection of pathogens in tissue samples, and amplification of sequences homologous to previously characterized genes. This portion of CH454 will provide an introduction to the basic techniques involved in amplifying DNA by PCR and analyzing the products of the amplification reaction. This will provide a positive control for enzyme activity and assure you that you can set up a PCR reaction using an abundant DNA source. You should then select a gene to amplify using DNA that will be purified in class and using primers that you design. Instruction will be given in class on using resources on the World Wide Web to retrieve DNA sequences that can be used for designing primers.
Many genes show sequence conservation during evolution.
You could design primers based on the known sequence of a gene in one species, and then test those primers using that species and closely related species. These suggestions are intentionally general. You should develop specific ideas for your research proposal. Remember that it is essential to include both positive and negative controls. Since there are strict safety guidelines for working with human tissue, proposals using human DNA will not be accepted.