We initially believed that running the Restriction Enzyme Digest for 25 minutes would be a sufficient amount of time for the bands to successfully show up. When the Restriction Enzyme Digest gel finished running we realized something went wrong with the machine. So we tried to run it correctly again to fix it but we did not run it long enough to have the clearest results possible. The gel was still successful but running the gel for longer would have produced longer and even clearer bands.
We ran our PCR test twice to try to confirm that our phage is in Cluster E. The Thermocycler machine did not work successfully so we weren’t able to fully confirm what cluster our phage was in. Based off of the phage’s characteristics in our EM pictures, Restriction Digest bands/ the phage’s DNA and the other characteristics we found through our research we believe that our phage best fits into Cluster E. If we find a Thermocycler machine that we know 100% works we would try our PCR test again and if it is successful then we could fully confirm the phage’s cluster with certainty.
Phages can either be lytic or temperate. A phage’s life cycle and its ability to attack a bacterial cell are very important in choosing the right phage to use for phage therapy for different bacterial infections. Lytic phages fully attack the bacteria and replicate rapidly to kill the bacterial cell immediately after replication. Temperate phages do not result in the full destruction of the bacteria. Based on the antibiotic resistant bacterial infection a patient has different and specific phages can be used to target specific bacterial cells after antibiotics haven’t worked successfully. The characteristics of the phage and type of phage itself are very important in finding a specific phage to attack specific bacteria. The tail length and tail characteristics as well as the head diameter and head shape are used to identify the type of phage. These characteristic are also very important in finding specific phage for specific bacterial infections.
If this phage belongs in cluster E that could mean we found a more uncommon type of phage. The most commonly found phages found belong in cluster A. If this phage has not been found before we further research on it in hopes to help more people with antibiotic resistant bacterial infections. Phage therapy can be used to save lives and improve the lives of people who have no other treatment options.
curesymposium.org 
You mentioned you could have run your gel longer to see better results. Why didn’t you do this initially?
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We initially believed that running the Restriction Enzyme Digest for 25 minutes would be a sufficient amount of time for the bands to successfully show up. When the Restriction Enzyme Digest gel finished running we realized something went wrong with the machine. So we tried to run it correctly again to fix it but we did not run it long enough to have the clearest results possible. The gel was still successful but running the gel for longer would have produced longer and even clearer bands.
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How many times did you run a test with cluster E? Could you have ran more to have more conclusive results?
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We ran our PCR test twice to try to confirm that our phage is in Cluster E. The Thermocycler machine did not work successfully so we weren’t able to fully confirm what cluster our phage was in. Based off of the phage’s characteristics in our EM pictures, Restriction Digest bands/ the phage’s DNA and the other characteristics we found through our research we believe that our phage best fits into Cluster E. If we find a Thermocycler machine that we know 100% works we would try our PCR test again and if it is successful then we could fully confirm the phage’s cluster with certainty.
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What are some of the properties that you would look for in a phage that would make it used for phage therapy?
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Phages can either be lytic or temperate. A phage’s life cycle and its ability to attack a bacterial cell are very important in choosing the right phage to use for phage therapy for different bacterial infections. Lytic phages fully attack the bacteria and replicate rapidly to kill the bacterial cell immediately after replication. Temperate phages do not result in the full destruction of the bacteria. Based on the antibiotic resistant bacterial infection a patient has different and specific phages can be used to target specific bacterial cells after antibiotics haven’t worked successfully. The characteristics of the phage and type of phage itself are very important in finding a specific phage to attack specific bacteria. The tail length and tail characteristics as well as the head diameter and head shape are used to identify the type of phage. These characteristic are also very important in finding specific phage for specific bacterial infections.
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What is the importance of this phage belonging to cluster E?
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If this phage belongs in cluster E that could mean we found a more uncommon type of phage. The most commonly found phages found belong in cluster A. If this phage has not been found before we further research on it in hopes to help more people with antibiotic resistant bacterial infections. Phage therapy can be used to save lives and improve the lives of people who have no other treatment options.
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