Hi Lolita, I don’t think there was anything we could have done “better” persay, we just ran out of time before we got to do the PCR experiment. At the beginning of the project we had to re-do enrichment because we weren’t able to isolate a phage from a soil sample until about the 2-week mark which set us back a little bit. If you have anymore questions let me know.
Hi Jake, nice job on the presentation. For future directions you mention that host range and genome sequencing should be the next steps. Would you prefer to do one experiment over the other?
Hi Ciara, thank you for the question. I would rather test for host range because that is most important when to comes to using the phage to target specific pathogenic bacteria strains in phage therapy. Let me know if you have any further questions!
Hi, Jake good job on your presentation. You mention mutating sections of genes to change it from analytic to temperate, how would this be performed if you do not know what gene controls what aspect of the phage?
Hi Jenna, thank you for the question. We wouldn’t need to know the function of the gene we are mutating because that is the purpose of doing the experiment. The idea is to mutate a gene and then replate the mutated phage to see if morphology changes from temperate to lytic. If the morphology did change, we could hypothesize that the gene is involved in the lysogenic cycle. However, we would not know the specific function of the gene other than that it aids in the lysogenic lifecycle. If you have anymore questions feel free to reach out.
Great presentation. What would you change about your methods if you could redo your experiment? What future directions do you think an experiment like this could take with more time in the lab?
Hi Emily, I would not change the methods of this research because we did not run into any false positive results or failed experiments. We did spend quite a bit of time re-doing the enrichment process (isolating a phage) from a soil sample because we weren’t getting plaque formation but ultimately this comes down to chance and is out of our control. If I had more time I would have conducted a PCR experiment with cluster specific primers to strengthen my cluster prediction.
Great presentation. If you could go back and refine your methods after gaining the experience you did, what would you add or do differently? You talked some about future directions, what would you say is the most realistic future direction?
Hi Emily, I would not change any of the methods because we didn’t run into any experimental failures and all of the experiments were necessary for characterizing the phage. The most realistic future direction would be to test for host range because it would only involve a plaque assay with different bacterial strains other than M. Smeg and a lab with above a biosafety level 2. Thank you, let me know if you still have questions.
What do you think you could’ve done better to get even a better outcome in your experiment?
Hi Lolita, I don’t think there was anything we could have done “better” persay, we just ran out of time before we got to do the PCR experiment. At the beginning of the project we had to re-do enrichment because we weren’t able to isolate a phage from a soil sample until about the 2-week mark which set us back a little bit. If you have anymore questions let me know.
Hi Jake, nice job on the presentation. For future directions you mention that host range and genome sequencing should be the next steps. Would you prefer to do one experiment over the other?
Hi Ciara, thank you for the question. I would rather test for host range because that is most important when to comes to using the phage to target specific pathogenic bacteria strains in phage therapy. Let me know if you have any further questions!
Hi, Jake good job on your presentation. You mention mutating sections of genes to change it from analytic to temperate, how would this be performed if you do not know what gene controls what aspect of the phage?
Hi Jenna, thank you for the question. We wouldn’t need to know the function of the gene we are mutating because that is the purpose of doing the experiment. The idea is to mutate a gene and then replate the mutated phage to see if morphology changes from temperate to lytic. If the morphology did change, we could hypothesize that the gene is involved in the lysogenic cycle. However, we would not know the specific function of the gene other than that it aids in the lysogenic lifecycle. If you have anymore questions feel free to reach out.
Great presentation. What would you change about your methods if you could redo your experiment? What future directions do you think an experiment like this could take with more time in the lab?
Hi Emily, I would not change the methods of this research because we did not run into any false positive results or failed experiments. We did spend quite a bit of time re-doing the enrichment process (isolating a phage) from a soil sample because we weren’t getting plaque formation but ultimately this comes down to chance and is out of our control. If I had more time I would have conducted a PCR experiment with cluster specific primers to strengthen my cluster prediction.
Great presentation. If you could go back and refine your methods after gaining the experience you did, what would you add or do differently? You talked some about future directions, what would you say is the most realistic future direction?
Hi Emily, I would not change any of the methods because we didn’t run into any experimental failures and all of the experiments were necessary for characterizing the phage. The most realistic future direction would be to test for host range because it would only involve a plaque assay with different bacterial strains other than M. Smeg and a lab with above a biosafety level 2. Thank you, let me know if you still have questions.