Using Microbiology to Diagnose Infectious and Genetics Diseases

Biotechnology is a broad unit in Biology which has the opportunity to captivate students with hands on activities and real world connections as well as allow students to discover new career opportunities in this new trench in 21st century science. This activity covers two important techniques used in biotechnology: PCR and Primer Tagging/Fluorescence identification. The activity is designed to teach how to create multiple copies of teacher provided DNA strand , explaining the reasoning why one might need to use such technique and further the experience by using those amplicons as a diagnostic tool to identify diseases such as MRSA, Ebola and Breast cancer.