TeacherTECH Science Series- Protein Analysis 1: Protein Quantification

High School Teachers are invited to attend an exciting new TeacherTECH workshop series focused on biotech. This workshop series will provide you with the building blocks to confidently introduce standards-based hands on laboratory activities into your lesson plans. These activities may be integrated into your classroom teaching as stand alone activities or be stung together as a combined series of labs. The series will build on to more advanced topics both in content and equipment requirements. 

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

4:30pm - 6:30pm 

San Diego Supercomputer Center, Auditorium

University of California, San Diego

The instructor will also show you materials modifications to fit your class and budget.

Workshop Description

How much protein is in your food? Apply Beer’s law to measure the protein concentration in foods: milk, sports drinks, soy products, etc. Use the Bradford assay to determine concentration qualitatively by eye, or quantitatively with a spectrophotometer. This lab integrates the physical, chemical, and biological properties of proteins.

Workshop Activities 

This inquiry-based kit is designed to introduce students to proteomics, and provides the tools to develop their own protein-based experiments. Based on the Bio-Rad Quick Start Bradford protein assay, students use absorbance values from a set of protein samples with known concentrations to create a standard curve. Protein concentrations of their test samples can then be extrapolated by hand or plotted using a graphing utility such as Microsoft Excel. The Bradford method is based on the color development formed when the dye Coomassie Blue G-250 binds to protein. There is a correlation between the amount of blue color and the amount of protein in the sample: the more protein, the more intense the blue color. The simplicity of the assay allows the results to be measured qualitatively by eye, or quantitatively with a spectrophotometer.

This biophotonics laboratory activity allows students to analyze and compare the protein content in milk, sports drinks, egg, muscle tissue, saliva, tears, or any source of soluble biologically derived material. Students also learn to use a spectrophotometer, micropipet, and computer, which are all invaluable tools in modern bioscience research. Protein quantitation is often necessary before isolation, separation, and analysis by chromatography, electrophoresis, or western blotting. This lab integrates biology, chemistry, and physics, allowing students to develop understanding about how the chemical, physical, and biological properties of proteins determine their structure and function.

Upcoming Biotech Workshops

Tuesday, April 20, 2010 -  DNA Analysis 1: DNA Electrophoresis

Use restriction enzyme digestion and DNA gel electrophoresis (popularly known as DNA Fingerprinting) to determine which of a number of suspects could have committed the crime - based on DNA evidence. Extend this kit with a plasmid mapping activity using the plasmid DNA restriction patterns from the experiment. AP Bio Lab 6.

Thursday, May 13, 2010 - DNA Analysis 2: Introduction to PCR

This hands-on workshop teaches the basics of DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and gel electrophoresis. Learn how trace amounts of DNA are used to identify genetic ancestry, identify inherited variations in your own genotype at the PV92 locus, or test common grocery store food products for the presence of GM foods. AP Bio Lab 8  

Tuesday, May 25, 2010  - Proteins in Action 2

In this hands-on workshop we will generate protein profiles from distant and closely related species of fish using gel electrophoresis. Test the hypothesis that protein profiles are indicators of evolutionary relatedness and construct cladograms from your own gel results: DNA> RNA>Protein>Trait.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010 - Proteins in Action 3: NEW LAB AP Bio lab 2

Need Energy?  Reveal the power of enzyme kinetics by illustrating the theory through a real world application to biofuels.  Through guided inquiry activities your students will determine how temperature, pH, the concentration of substrate and the concentration of enzyme will effect an enzymatic reaction.  Throughout the world, biofuels are commonly used to power vehicles, heat homes, and provide fuel for cooking.  Can biofuels solve global warming?  Let your students decide if this is possible!

Please join us for an exciting and informative session of hands-on learning presented by Essy Levy, Curriculum and Training Specialist, Bio-Rad Laboratories. 

Registration is free. Refreshments will be served. Space is 
limited. Please contact Ange Mason at 858-534-5064 or amason@ucsd.edu to reserve your space.


For additional information on other TeacherTECH programs, please visit http://education.sdsc.edu/teachertech