Mind, Body, and Science.

  Module I: Isolation of Drosophila DNA In this portion of the experiment, the DNA of the common fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) is isolated for later use. Initially, two 0.5 mL screw-cap tubes were labeled with the designation of “wild” and “white” separately. Once the tubes were labeled, wild type and white eyed fruit flies were transferred via vials and anesthetized in the freezer for 3 minutes. Additionally, four anesthetized wild type flies were transferred into the tube labeled “wild”, where the flies were mashed for approximately 10 seconds. Once mashed, 100 microliters of prepared Lysis buffer is added to the tube, via a micropipette with an unused tip. Moreover, the sample was mixed by pipetting up and down, once mixed the sample tube was placed into an ice chest. The process done for the wild type sample, was repeated for the white eyed fruit flies. Thus, when both tubes were mashed and iced, they were placed into a water bath of 70o C for 15 minutes of incubation. ...

     The common fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is the organism utilized within this experimental process. Therefore, in order to develop a greater understanding of the genotypes and phenotypes of the model organism, identification of the discrete characteristics of males and females was essential. Firstly, a model organism can be classified as any plant, animal or microorganism: which allows individuals to study scientific inquiries (EDVOTEK). For instance, the Drosophila were chosen for the experiment, because of their model organism characteristics. For example, Drosophila are rather inexpensive to use, have a fast generation time, and have observably discrete characteristics (Tolwinski, 2017). Moreover, the more noticeable differences between the two sexes of Drosophila are: size, and abdomen shape. For example, females are larger in size and are observed to have a pointed abdominal shape with stripes or segments. The second component of the experimental process i...

  As a whole, there are three main steps/stages of DNA replication: initiation, elongation, and termination. The initiation stage is where DNA replication is initiated: within the template strand in a coding region site known as origins. More importantly, there are several of these origin sites, they are acknowledged as replication forks: this is where the double helix will be separated. As a result, DNA helicase unwinds the double helix. Thus, the separation preps DNA polymerase and other enzymes to synthesize a new double helix: by growing a new DNA daughter strand. During the process of elongation, DNA polymerase adds DNA nucleotides to the 3’ end of the synthesized polynucleotide strand. As a result, the new strand will be synthesized in the 5’ to 3’ direction, this strand will be known as the leading strand. In the process, DNA primase synthesizes a RNA primer, initiating DNA polymerase to continue developing new nucleotides. As a result, the new DNA strand extends/elongates. ...