The Art of Bacterial Transformation

The use of transformation has been a fundamental tool in biotechnology harnessing the natural ability of bacteria to take up foreign DNA which can then express proteins used for human purposes. In this project, student teams transform bacteria to express five distinct proteins, each with their own fluorescent color. Students will design their petri dish artware; determine which plasmids with the appropriate genes express the fluorescence they want to use in their painting; make the cells competent to take up the foreign DNA; isolate and grow successful cells that can be incorporated into a the “painting” of their petri dish; and finally paint the appropriate fluorescent colored cells onto the agar of the petri dish. This lab promises students a chance to participate in real science in that the ultimate goal students have for employing the multi-step biotechnology is to satisfy their own designs.