TRAIN Scholar Sierra Lewis' Blog

Here we are at the end of the road and it feels amazing!! I am so happy I made it to the end of the semester in one peice since this was one of the toughest semester for myself by far. I am proud of myself for just making it this far and I am just crossing my fingers I pass all my classes this year. I have had some high and lows this semester forsure but it was all worth it I can say. I am also satisfied with my project as well this year it went smooth from start to finish it could've went better. The only thing that would make me feel less of a champion in this moment is if I get news I did not pass organic chemistry so if anyone can put in a good word for me I would apperiate it greatly! Hope you guys have a wonderful winter break.

School is nearing the end and I can not be more ecstatic! I am so ready for break I can taste it. I am trying to not freak out with finals coming up and the pressure that I must pass ochem. I am starting to finish up my paper yet I still am missing a few peices which I will review with Josh further. I included my results section down below for your review and pictures of my sucessful plates with green flurescent protein. "Among the plated bacterial colonies, one distinctive observation emerged — a single plate exhibited a conspicuous glow under UV light after an incubation period. The glowing plate indicated successful expression of the Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) gene, a trait carried by the pGLO plasmid. This notable fluorescence is attributed to the integration and expression of the foreign DNA within the bacterial cells. The growth on the ampicillin-containing plates signifies the effectiveness of the ampicillin resistance gene as a selection maker, meaning only the tran...

Oh boy it has been an eventful week in a half for me! I worked a big event in Las Vgeas which was amazing and everything I could have ever imagined but when I tell you I am exhausted it does not even makes sense how I was able to drive four hours home to Phoenix after a 12 hr shift for 4 days straight but I had no choice because school stops for no one. Even though I have not been physically in the lab I have been working on my paper a bit and I started a new section in my paper which is my research question since I haven’t had much time lately so I formulated my research question as “Is it possible for a genetically transformed organism to pass on its genetic makeup and traits to its offspring and future generations?” I have plans to add more to it bur for now this is a start..how are you guys papers coming along?

Hii guys! The weather lately has been beyond beautiful hope yall are enjoying this as much as I am because it is a true treat, I love this time of year something about it is just so therapeutic. In the last week I have slowly started to work on my paper more. Here is a sample of my abstract – please let me know where I can improve or what tweks I should make to it! “Genetic bacterial transformation is a pivotal process in microbial evolution, biotechnology, and scientific research. This exploration aims to unravel the heritability of genetically modified traits within microbial populations. Following a meticulously designed protocol, non-pathogenic Escherichia coli (E. coli) were subjected to the introduction of the pGLO plasmid, carrying both the ampicillin resistance gene and the Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) gene. The experiment aimed to explore whether the transformed genetic material could be stably inherited over multiple generations. Notably, the results unveiled a singula...

A new week another lesson it feels like these days in my life. I am feeling the weeks fly me by intensely and I do not like this feeling however I am excited the semester is going to be done sooner it seems which is a tad bit exciting yet still a little stressful. However, being in the lab always makes things a bit better. This week I decided not to do a another round of my experiment just because I feel like the first time was special and doing it again will not be as magical as the first time. Which should not matter but to me it does and I feel like when you do things right why fix it so I am just going to do with my first data collection results for my paper. I have not finished a new section yet in my paper because I have been just so swapped with my other classes and work but I do have plans to work on it more next weekend.

Hii everyone! Hope everyone is just as busy as I am with these midterms coming around the corner. I am hoping I pass this semester of organic chemistry with every bone in my body I will try to do my best to get it done if it is the last thing I do. I have been working on my paper here and there in between the time I am working and stressing about chemistry. I have been working on the more simple sections first because why not knock them out since they are the easiest. I have completed the materials section so far. In the meantime, Josh mentioned I can do another round of my experiment since it took a short amount of time to do my actual experiment but I do not know if I want to but I will keep you updated on what I decide in the few coming weeks.

Hii guys I wanted to share the research proposal I submitted for my project. " Bacteria, despite their diminutive size, wield immense significance in the domains of science, biotechnology, and the natural world. Genetic transformation, the process by which foreign genetic material is incorporated into bacterial cells, has emerged as a pivotal tool in genetic engineering and microbiology. This process enables bacteria to acquire new traits or functions, rendering them indispensable in biotechnological applications such as pharmaceutical production and environmental remediation. However, a fundamental and intriguing question underpins this realm: Can genetically transformed bacteria transmit their genetic makeup and traits to their progeny and successive generations? Furthermore, how steadfast are these genetic modifications over time? This paper embarks on a journey to probe the heritability and stability of genetic alterations in bacteria, shedding light on the dynamics of genetic...