Wet ELISA lab
Wed, Sep 23, 2026 · Week 5 · Genetics of Disease (Medical Interventions)
Today's goal: Record the color of six ELISA wells, check the two controls, and state what the record can and cannot support.
This is a model of the work you should turn in today. Use it to check your own: match the structure and the level of detail, do not copy it. Your data and wording should be your own.
The positive control developed color (Dark) and the negative control stayed nearly clear, so this run passed its own check and the practice wells can be read. Passing the check does not make M1 positive; it means the color in M1 is worth reading.
This record cannot establish whether M1 is positive, because it does not supply the test's decision rule, and a classroom strip is not a test of a person.
If NC had been Medium instead of Nearly clear, the control check would become: the negative control made color without antigen, so M1's Medium cannot be separated from that background; the strip is flagged, and the group repeats the run or asks for review. That is the reasoning T5 asks for on Strip 2.
| Well | Contents as labeled | Color | Compared with NC |
|---|---|---|---|
| PC | Positive control | Dark | More color than NC |
| NC | Negative control | Nearly clear | Reference well |
| M1 | Practice sample 1 | Medium | More color than NC |
| M2 | Practice sample 2 | Nearly clear | About the same as NC |
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: This worked model uses a four-well practice strip, Strip M. It is not Strip 1, not Strip 2 and not your group's wells. Use its structure, not its words, in your record. It is not another submission.
- Name the variables and include units.
- Enter observations without changing the raw values.
- Check labels, calculations, and patterns before interpreting the data.
Keep the structure. Replace the question, facts, measurements, and evidence. Then recheck units, vocabulary, and whether the conclusion goes beyond the evidence.
Also due today: Guided notes and a partner check are optional and are not another submission.
Turn in: One record with six tasks, T1 to T6: two control predictions, a six-well data table, the step order with one wash sentence, a control check, a flagged-strip check and one limit sentence
Go to Schoology to turn this in.
Submit one PDF. Schoology attaches your name to your upload; on the page itself, write your period and code. Name the file: FirstName LastName - Assignment Title - YYYY-MM-DD.pdf.
Open Schoology PDF upload helpIf you cannot get in, see Mr. Mendoza. Do not skip the work.
Claim ceiling: Today's six wells carry no concentration label and no unit. A clean control pair lets you read the other wells. It does not make any sample well positive or negative, and it does not guarantee that every well behaved. Calling a sample well positive or negative needs the test's decision rule, the stated cutoff for what counts, and that rule is not supplied today. A classroom kit is also not a test of a person: in a clinic a screening ELISA is not a diagnosis by itself, and a confirmatory test follows it.
One exam-style question that uses exactly what you practiced today. Try it before you reveal the answer, then read why each choice is right or wrong.
Tap an answer to see the full explanation. Nothing is recorded or graded.
It builds this reusable test skill: Optional single check, not alternate work plans.
- Name the concept or data pattern being tested.
- Cross out choices that violate that rule or the evidence.
- Justify the best remaining choice before checking the answer.