DNA Extraction From Chicken Liver

DNA Extraction From Chicken Liver Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. Nearly every cell in a persons body has the same DNA. Most DNA is located in the cell nucleus (where it is called nuclear DNA), but a small amount of DNA can also be found in the mitochondria (where it is called mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA). The information in DNA is stored as a code made up of four chemical bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). Human DNA consists of about 3 billion bases, and more than 99 percent of those bases are the same in all people. The order, or sequence, of these bases determines the information available for building and maintaining an organism, similar to the way in which letters of the alphabet appear in a certain order to form words and sentences. DNA bases pair up with each other, A with T and C with G, to form units called base pairs. Each base is also attached to a sugar molecule and a phosphate molecule. Together, a base, sugar, and phosphate are called a nucleotide. Nucleotides are arranged in two long strands that form a spiral called a double helix. The structure of the double helix is somewhat like a ladder, with the base pairs forming the ladders rungs and the sugar and phosphate molecules forming the vertical sidepieces of the ladder. An important property of DNA is that it can replicate, or make copies of itself. Each strand of DNA in the double helix can serve as a pattern for duplicating the sequence of bases. This is critical when cells divide because each new cell needs to have an exact copy of the DNA present in the old cell. The extraction of DNA from cells and its purification are of primary importance to the field of biotechnology and forensics. Extraction and purification of DNA are the first steps in the analysis and manipulation of DNA that allow scientists to detect genetic disorders, produce DNA fingerprints of individuals, and even create genetically engineered organisms that can produce beneficial products such as insulin, antibiotics, and hormones.ÂÂ   Once the DNA has been isolated, it is essential to accurately determine its concentration for subsequent manipulation such as cloning or sequence determination. To quantify the amount of DNA that extracted by using spectrophotometry. The aims of this experience is to: To use the properties of DNA to isolate long strands of DNA from liver cells. To determine the yield of DNA isolated from a given amount of tissue. To examine the light absorbing properties of purified DNA. To examne the relationship between the concentration of a DNA solution and the absorbnce at 595nm of DNA-diphenylamine solution. To generate a standrad curve relating DNA concentraton with the absorbance of DNA-diphenylamine solutions. To use a standard curve to determine the concentration of an unknown DNA solution. Materials and Methods As per lab manual. Results Firstly, the chicken liver cell homogenate is treated with a salt solution such as NaCl and a detergent solution containing the compound SDS (sodiumdodecyl sulfate). These solutions break down and emulsify the fat proteins that make up a cell membrane. Finally, ethanol is added because DNA is soluble in water. After adding ethanol a relatively clear aqueous will be produced, the first layer is the milky solution that is the aqueous phase with DNA, the middle layer is the solid (precipitate proteins). The bottom layer is a clear solution (organic). The DNA can be spooled (wound) on a stirring rod and pulled from the solution at this point. The amount of DNA solution we got is 5.4ml.Than we put the DNA solution in 2ml tube (1.041g). The total weight of DNA solution and tube is 1.106g. The amount of DNA we got is 1.106-1.041g = 0.065g. Next we prepare 4 standard tubes by adding TE buffer (ml) to the DNA standard solution (ml). And also added to each of the 3 samples of my DNA. The total DNA (mg) is recorded in the table 1. The observed colour change of 4 standard tube and my 3 samples are recorded in table 2 and 3. We pipette the DNA samples and each standards tubes into separate wells of a 96 well microtitre plate. We measured the absorbance at 595nm of the DNA-diphenylamine solutions using the plate reader. Our results are shown in the graph with the used of the reading of table 4. Form the graph we find that the concentration of undiluted DNA is 0.232=0.46mg/ml. Discussion and Conclusions For this experiment we determinate the yield of the DNA isolate from given amount of tissue is: 1g -> 63mg 0.065g -> 4.095mg (wet weight of the DNA to dry weight) 3ml -> 4.095mg 5.4ml -> 7.371mg (DNA in the entire aqueous phase is collected) 3. 4ml -> 7.371mg 5.3ml -> 9.767mg The final calculation of the dry DNA is 9.767mg/g liver. For the experiment we examine that the light absorbing properties of purified DNA. The wavelength is range 220-300nm. The wavelength of the DNA is 260nm. We also calculated that the yield of DNA per g of liver from Lab 2 is: The amount (mg) of DNA contain => 0.461.5=0.69mg Aqueous from lab 1 = 5.4mg 0.69/2 =0.345mg (0.3455.4)/3 = 0.621mg The final value in mg of dry DNA/g liver is: 0.621mg/g. In the end of the experiments, we managed to complete our objectives. In summary, we learn that the alcohol can causes DNA to precipitate, or settle out of the solution, leaving behind all the cellular components that arent soluble in alcohol. As alcohol is less dense than water, so it floats on top forming two separate layers. We also learn that the advantage of spectrophotometry is that diphenylamine only reacts with DNA more accurate as RNA would not be determined. The disadvantage of spectrophotometry is that it always requires standard solution. The advantage of calculating of yield by its weight is that it does not require standard solution. The disadvantage of calculating of yield by its weight is that it is less accurate as RNA is counted in.

Henry David Thoreau Essay

Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862) was an American writer and philosopher famous for his naturalistic and anarchical ideas as well as his adherence to the movement of transcendentalism. Thoreau was a vegetarian, actively stood against slavery and war, and was one of the first who supported Darwin’s theory of evolution. Among his many works, the best known are his essay, Civil Disobedience, a proclamation against injustice and an urge for individual opposition to civil government, and the book ‘Walden’, where Thoreau’s reflects his personal experience of living simple life in natural environment. Although these works, like many others of Thoreau, are considered ‘transcendental’ and had been published ages ago, the ideas and concepts they contain may still at some point be related to the issues we may face while living in the 21st century. In general, the core of transcendental beliefs is a faith into a perfect spiritual state of mind that transcends both empirical and physical. It can only be realized through the person’s intuition, not through the doctrines of any existing religions. Therefore, it is rather a philosophy then a religion. The transcendentalism was grounded on principles that are ‘transcendental’, i. e.  based not upon sensual experiences but upon inner feelings and empirical, spiritual essence of a human. (En. wikipedia. org) American transcendentalism was mainly dominating in the first half of the 19th century, encouraging to abandon our mundane world, establish close relationship between human and nature, and to concentrate on ideal existence through spiritual abundance and self-reliance. Henry David Thoreau was admitted as a co-founder of this movement not only for his great thoughts on transcendentalism, but also for his empirical ideas and personal practice of his beliefs, which was greatly illustrated in his most famous book, ‘Walden’. The book firstly released as ‘Walden, or Life in the Woods’ (1854) was later widely recognized as one of the best non-fictional works of American authors. Living amidst woodland that belonged to R. W. Emerson, his friend and another founder of transcendentalism, near Concord, Massachusetts, in the small unpretentious self-built cabin, Thoreau mainly aimed to isolation from society for its better, more objective understanding. He stayed there alone for almost two years but kept receiving and returning visits. For example, he often went to Emerson’s hÐ ¾use for meÐ °l and conversÐ °tion. Moreover, as he indicates in the book, the cabin was located ‘at the edge of town’, not in the wilderness, even not far away from his family home. Therefore, he focuses reader’s attention on the importance of human’s closeness to the nature, self-reliance and meditation. The book combines Thoreau’s autobiography with a criticism of society, namely American consumerism, materialism, and nature destruction, – the issues still common in our century as well. Such experiment of cut-off living was made by Thoreau for special purposes. First, he tried to escape the negative effects of the Industrial Revolution through keeping agrarian lifestyle. Interesting fact, – the experiment was of a temporary character, and in the book Thoreau strongly advises his readers to avoid repeating it. Thus, anyone who studies Thoreau’s works has to keep in mind that at some degree they should be approached philosophically rather than understood literally. Second, the writer wanted to practically experience the main transcendental belief that every individual can transcend from normal to divine by means of nature itself. Like other members of the movement, in the ‘Walden’ Thoreau, for example, speaks about Vedic concepts to illustrate his vision of the nature. â€Å"I lay down the book and go to my well for water, and lo! There I meet the servant of Brahmin, priest of Brahma, and Vishnu, and Indra, who still sits in his temple of the Ganges reading the Vedas, or dwells at the root of a tree with his crust and water-jug. I meet his servant come to draw water for his master, and our buckets as it were grate together in the same well. The pure Walden water is mingled with the sacred water of the Ganges. (Thoreau 221) At some point, Thoreau’s attempts to promote the ideals of transcendentalism may seem to be impractical and rather inapplicable. In fact, after an in-depth analysis, Thoreau’s ideals may even look infeasible, namely his appeals to ascetic way of living and refusal of common human needs. In the scope of critical thinking, impossibility to follow the idea of living without any blessings of civilization is rather obvious. The average American who lives in the 21st century can hardly imagine him- or herself without Internet connection, using cell-phones, driving cars, or going to supermarkets. Nevertheless, it is possible at certain degree. Moreover, due to global ecology problems, it even may become necessary for each of us to refuse some advantages of our daily welfare for the great purpose of saving the world from environmental catastrophe. For this reason ‘Walden’, as well as many other Thoreau’s works, is frequently quoted by specialists who work in various fields and are concerned with the environmental problems of the Earth in general and in the USA in particular. While the whole issue of bad ecology becomes more and more crucial, Thoreau’s idea of simple life in the forest turns out to be not as unsuitable as it seemed at first glance. It is important to mention that Thoreau’s works on natural history is a great anticipation of findings and methods in the fields of ecology and the history of environment, which later became main sources of nowadays movement of environmentalism. In the book ‘Earth Rising: American Environmentalism in the 21st Century’ we read that â€Å"some 150 years ago, transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau, sitting in his tiny cabin on Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts, was already mourning the loss of the wilderness and the debilitating effect of industrialism on the human spirit†. (Shabecoff 16) Thoreau significant influence onto the entire concept of nature preservation and conservation is unquestionable. â€Å"In the United States†¦ the movement expanded in the 1800s, out of concerns for protecting the natural resources of the West, with individuals such as John Muir and Henry David Thoreau making key philosophical contributions. Thoreau was interested in people’s relationship with nature and studied this by living close to nature in a simple life. He published his experiences in the book ‘Walden’, which argues that people should become intimately close with nature. The conservationist principles as well as the belief in an inherent right of nature were to become the bedrock of modern environmentalism†. The conservation movement is a political, social and scientific movement that aims to protect natural resources, including plant and animal species as well as their habitat for the future. Chiefly in the United States, conservation is seen as differing from environmentalism in that it seeks to preserve natural resources expressly for their continued sustainable use by humans. In other parts of the world conservation is used more broadly to include the setting aside of natural areas and the active protection of wildlife for their inherent value. (En. wikipedia. org) Because of Thoreau and his associates humanity became truly concerned about the nature, the world we live in. He can definitely be called a pioneer ecologist. Numerous contemporary movements and organizations prove the actuality of environment problem and therefore significance of all Thoreau’s works related to nature preservation. For example, his vision of the environmental issues in the 19th century became a ground for the book ‘From Walden to Wall Street: Frontiers of Conservation Finance’ written in the current times. â€Å"Why do we invest in conservation? Why do human beings invest their time, energy and financial resources in protection of land, plants, and animals? We invest in conservation because it is an expression of our faith in the future. Conservation investment is an expression of our faith in the future of natural systems that are essential to life on Earth. It is an expression of our faith in the future of deeply loved natural wonders. And it is an expression of faith in the future of our families and communities whose lives will be immeasurably enriched by the living world that we are striving to sustain†. (Levitt 3) Here is one more evidence on how outstanding were the Thoreau’s works and what a great impact they made and still do. In ‘Walden’ he included a famous aphorism that â€Å"in wilderness is the preservation of the world†. Thoreau kindled the Wilderness Religion that found fertile ground in America and provided a spiritual basis for conservation. In ‘The Main Woods’ (1864) Thoreau called for the establishment of national forest preserves, helping to set the stage for the National Park movement. (Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature 6) Despite of the fact that Walden is considered by some critics a failed experiment, the issues raised in the book are still of current importance. As 21st-century people, for instance, we suffer of consumerism and globalization, with their negative ethical aspects. Thoreau’s prophetic awareness of them is amazing, they are as relevant now, as they used to be in his century. He rejects consumerism, its adverse effect on society with its status stratification, and still teaches us lessons vital for our survival and progress. Another kind of ideas Thoreau often promoted in his works are related to anarchism and civil disobedience. Thus, let us shift our attention to this theme of Thoreau’s writings and discuss how those fit in the American viewpoint of the 21st century. In his disobedience to the American low of his times he was as prominent as in his attempts to bring humanity closer to the nature. He certainly was a key figure in the American radicalism. Disobedience was the main point in his endeavors to justifÃ'Æ' morÐ °l anÐ °rchism and to encourage each individual to act on the basis of their personal judgments, their personal opinion about the very justice rather than civil regulations. Unfortunately, Thoreau offers nothing instead and relies of his personal sÐ µnse of justice, which is univÐ µrsal. Here is the historical background of the essay. â€Å"’Civil Disobedience’ is an analysis of the individual’s relationship to the state that focuses on why men obey governmental law even when they believe it to be unjust. But ‘Civil Disobedience’ is not an essay of abstract theory. It is Thoreau’s extremely personal response to being imprisoned for breaking the law. † Because he opposed slavery and because tax revenues contributed to the support of it, Thoreau decided to become a tax rebel. He was arrested and imprisoned. It was short as a one night but has had enduring effect through the writing of ‘Civil Disobedience’ which has exerted its powerful force over time. (McElroy 2) In accordance with Thoreau’s ideals, the government of his days was far from perfection due to Mexican-American war and slavery expanded in the US. Therefore, the essay was written as anti-slavery and anti-war protest soon after the war’s beginning. Thoreau later wrote about governmental justice. â€Å"If it is of such a nature that requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter friction to stop he machine†¦ Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also prison†. (Thoreau 259) In the essay the author urges American citizens to show their disagreement to government by passive disobedience without acts of violence. Such form of protest was later used by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King who initiated movements for social changes. Thoreau was emphasizing the importance of acting upon the person’s ethical and moral beliefs. According to Thoreau, â€Å"unjust law exists: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once? † This urge to disobedience is in tune with the message of ‘Walden’. Those who are not satisfied with the society should not obey its norms, and neither wait until the norms are changed, nor until the majority joins them, but live according to their own believes. Personal values should be compared to the ones of the contemporary society, and unless they comply, stick the voice of conscience. Thoreau also said that â€Å"it costs me less in every sense to incur the penalty of disobedience to the state, than it would to obey. I should feel as if I were worth less in that case. † (Thoreau 258) In fact, many of the issues pinpointed by Thoreau 150 years ago have not yet been overcome by the American society, and that strikes the most. He hated its slavish materialism as well as commercialism and believed that â€Å"the state should never rank above the individual conscience or the business of living. But if the state demands a person’s first allegiance by asking him to violate his conscience and participate in an injustice, the person should disobey – not through violence but by removing his cooperation. † (McElroy 3) Thoreau foresaw many issues typical to the modern American society. Over 150 years ago he predicted the crisis, spiritual and moral, that now corrodes it. The writer still begs us to slow down our hectic lives, to review our values, and to live in harmony with our consciences. He repeatedly talks about the possibility to establish a society where the justice is appreciated and the beauty of the nature is preserved.

Competitive Advantage of Wal Mart Essay

Every company is trying to avoiding failure and the goal is to have a sustaining competitive advantage. But when do companies have a sustainable competitive advantage? It depends on three factors: the barriers to imitation, the capability of competitors and the dynamism of the industry development. In the 1970s Wal Mart lost their competitive advantage. Sears had a better positioning like Wal Mart. Therefore Wal Mart distinguished the situation and improved its distribution system. It created new trade channels to save costs and invest in new information technology to improve their situation. Wal Mart found a way to change their strategies and structures to change their competitive conditions. Over time, Wal Mart got strong partnerships with suppliers. This was a key element to improve their performance on the market and it`s not easy to imitate. Those partnerships work now since a long time and other competitors might lack the volume of purchases Wal Mart can offer. With some diversifications like Sam’s Club, a new way of supercenters or their plan for the international expansion Wal Mart was able to confine from their competitors. Wal-Mart was the first low price company and retailer which expanded around the world. The CEO of Wal Mart focused on small-town markets and ignored the national discounters. So, Wal Mart has huge distribution capabilities and this is very difficult to imitate from competitors. The most significant advantage of Wal Mart is their using of the satellite system. They are using this system to compress their costs and get a distinguished communication system with all employees to every time. The overall achieved employee satisfaction has the advantage of highly motivated employees. This is an overall management issue and when the employees are motivated, the customers are feeling good and well served. In future, Wal-Mart was committed to find new ways to have the competitive advantage of the market. They invest in different strategies like trendy fashions, offering organic food and remodeling stores to achieve a high satisfaction during the shopping by customers. So, they were able to use the economic crisis to win new customers. A lot of people search after low price shopping possibilities. So investors cheered at Wal-Mart and the company outperformed both rival target and the S&P 500 index. Wal Mart holds its quality due to the constant low priced policy. This EDLP is not easy to replicate unless you can offer consistently low prices. On account of the points Wal Mart is able to secure a sustaining competitive advantage at the moment. They are reacting directly and design their company with the time and respond on their employees and customers. Their competitors are able to imitate their policies but this can`t happen within the next year because Wal Marts` advantages are way to complex. As long as Wal Mart is always developing its competencies and keeping on track with the environmental changes, they do have a sustainable competitive advantage in the US.

Psychological, Philosophical and Religious Elements of...

Psychological, Philosophical and Religious Elements of Heart of Darkness Heart of Darkness is a kind of little world unto itself. The reader of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness should take the time to consider this work from a psychological point of view. There are, after all, an awful lot of heads and skulls in the book, and Conrad goes out of his way to suggest that in some sense Marlows journey is like a dream or a return to our primitive past--an exploration of the dark recesses of the human mind. Looking at the book from a psychological viewpoint, there are apparent similarities to the psychological theories of Sigmund Freud in its suggestion that dreams are a clue to hidden areas of the mind, and that at the heart of†¦show more content†¦There are at least two philosophical aspects of the Heart of Darkness. The first philosophical aspect is the aspect we might call moral philosophy. Certainly Heart of Darkness is preoccupied with general questions about the nature of good and evil, or civilization and savagery. And certainly Heart of Darkness raises and elaborates upon some quite specific moral questions: What saves Marlow from becoming evil? Is Kurtz more or less evil than the Manager and the pilgrims? Why does Marlow think that lies smack of mortality--that is, why does he associate lying with death--and what is happening to him--is he acting morally or immorally--when he lies to Kurtzs Intended? And what price must he pay for his lie? A serious contemplation of questions such as these can certainly shed some light. The second philosophical aspect are the questions of epistemology--questions that have to do with what kinds of things are knowable and what procedures we can use to know them. (Tessitore, 78). Certainly the way in which Conrad chooses to tell his story makes epistemological questions relevant. Here we have someone, an outside narrator, telling us a story he has heard from someone else, Marlow. The story Marlow tells seems to be about a man named Kurtz, but most of what Marlow knows about Kurtz he learns from other people, many of whom have all sorts of reasons forShow MoreRelatedSymbolism, Use Of Color, And Themes Of Nathaniel Hawthorne s The Scarlet Letter1657 Words   |  7 Pagesgreatest accomplishment of American short story and is viewed as the first American psychological novel, which makes Hawthorne win an incomparable position in American Literature. Hawthorne’s â€Å"unique gift† for using this kind of skills taps into the roots of man s moral nature and giv es vivid explanation of the implications in his works (Lei). Hawthorne is outstanding for his skillful employment of symbolism and psychological insight. Hawthorne set the stage for all other American Literature writers. 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