Possible Project Ideas

Diary: Week 1

During week 1 the team decided on a rough project outline which involves producing a protein microcompartment found in Salmonella in E.coli. Bacterial microcompartments (BMC’s) are protein organelles found within bacteria. The physiological function of these compartments is to promote specific metabolic processes by colocalising enzymes with subtrates and also cofactors. After expressing the microcompartment in E.coli we will attempt to target different proteins to the compartment which may have a bioremediation function for example. Ideas on what could be targeted to the compartment as well as a name for the project are still under discussion.

The team was given a health and safety briefing and before starting in the labs attended a several tutorials on basic microbiology and molecular biology. The rest of the week was spent learning different laboratory techniques such as miniprep, transformations, isolating chromosomal DNA, PCR and restriction digests which will be critical for our project. Although this was largely successful some of the team did not get the desired result from their PCR’s (Jane and Brian) better luck next time. Towards the end of the week we had a group meeting and discussion to establish a cloning strategy and also to design the primers needed for our gene of interest. Our computer team spent a large amount of the week designing our website which is now up and running.

Fail of the Week = Jane’s PCR