Cloning and purification workflow
Open your materials, follow the steps, then turn in your work.
Carry out a cloning and protein-purification workflow and record results at each step.
1. Open your materials
Use the materials named in the first step below. Open lesson resources.
2. Start the work
Read the workflow protocol in the PLTW course shell and gather your materials.
Show all 6 required steps
- Read the workflow protocol in the PLTW course shell and gather your materials.
- Model transformation by introducing the recombinant plasmid into host cells.
- Select transformed cells using the provided marker and record how many grew.
- Run the simulated purification step and note where the target protein appears.
- Record yield and one quality observation in your workflow data table.
- Submit your cloning and purification workflow results.
Lost your place? Reopen today's Cloning and purification workflow record. Find the last completed evidence ID, check it against the claim ceiling, and continue with the first unfinished step rather than restarting the whole task.
Check your work before submitting
- You'll be able to carry out transformation, selection, and purification steps.
- You'll be able to record yield and a quality note from your workflow.
Before lab work: read the safety rules
- Wear nitrile gloves and safety goggles throughout the procedure.
- Treat all bacterial cultures as BSL-1 organisms: avoid mouth contact and wash hands before leaving lab.
- Dispose of all biological waste (plates, tubes, tips) in designated biohazard bags.
- Wipe bench with 10% bleach or 70% ethanol before and after use.
- Report any spill involving bacterial culture to the teacher immediately.
- Do not eat, drink, or apply cosmetics in the lab area.
3. Turn in your work
DueCheck Schoology- Hand in
- Cloning and purification workflow data table recording transformation results, selection counts, fraction data, yield, and a quality observation.
How to submit and name your file
Use the submission route shown on today's today's page.
In Schoology, open your course and the assignment for this lesson. Attach your file, select Submit, and check that it appears in the submission.
PDF upload helpYou get two school days for every day you were absent, so this deadline moves with you.
Find this lesson's Schoology assignments
These are existing assignments for your section. Follow the directions in the assignment you are working on; this list does not add new work. Check Schoology for each deadline.
Link will not open? Open Schoology, choose your course and section, and find the title shown above.
How this lesson connects
Keep using what you learned last class: Life-saving biotechnology raises hard questions about access because the same product must pass separate gates of price, patents, and regulation, so who controls those gates decides who the science actually helps. Today: Molecular workflows use controls and complementary separation or detection steps to evaluate a target, while each band, fraction, or colony remains limited by method resolution and sample quality.
Optional: listen or watch a unit review▸
Need help? Warm-up, timing, and directions▸
💡 Big idea: Molecular workflows use controls and complementary separation or detection steps to evaluate a target, while each band, fraction, or remains limited by method resolution and sample quality.
- 0-10Review protocol; gather materials; confirm lab setup
- 10-30 step: introduce into host cells per protocol
- 30-45Selection: plate or score cells; count or estimate transformed colonies
- 45-60 step: run first ; identify fraction with target
- 60-72Record yield and quality observation in
- 72-80Clean up; submit to the class site
- • This is a hands-on lab.
- • You will introduce recombinant DNA into host bacteria, select for transformed cells, and run a first step.
- • Work carefully: at any step ruins results.
- • Lab SOPs and data recording are both scored domains on the 072130 WebXam.
- • Heat shock or electroporation opens pores in bacterial membranes so DNA can enter.
- • selection kills non-transformed cells; only cells carrying the resistance gene survive.
- • The first step separates soluble from cell debris before .
PLTW connection and today's work
Open Activity 4.1.2 Protein Factories in myPLTW and follow the transformation and selection protocol to model the cloning and purification workflow.
Today's stopping point: Cloning-tools diagram should be done (Tuesday); workflow data table due today.
PLTW activity titles identify the course connection. If your account will not open, use the posted materials for today and tell Mr. Mendoza. Do not mark an online activity complete unless you completed it.
Use the turn-in directions at the top of this page. Do not create a second submission unless your teacher asks for one.
Show another explanation or a smaller first step
Need help? Choose a starting point
Finish the assigned lab safely before starting extra practice.
Lesson resources: reading, slides, and vocabulary▸
The deck carries the prior idea forward, lets you inspect an analogy, maps the rule to biology, and ends with the same evidence decision and exit ticket used on this page.
Generated from this lesson's canonical data with a red-team citation check.
Life-saving biotechnology raises hard questions about access because the same product must pass separate gates of price, patents, and regulation, so who controls those gates decides who the science actually helps.
Molecular workflows use controls and complementary separation or detection steps to evaluate a target, while each band, fraction, or remains limited by method resolution and sample quality.
A research team lays out its question, variables, controls, sampling plan, measurement record, and analysis before deciding what the data support.
- Which variable is changed or compared?
- Which conditions and measurements must stay consistent?
- Which conclusion is inside the study's evidence boundary?
Define variables, controls, sampling, units, and the analysis plan before interpreting a result; analysis cannot repair biased or inconsistent measurement.
A well-organized classroom study can still be limited by , measurement quality, confounding, and the population represented.
- • Question and variable cards map to the study design.
- • Control and measurement cards map to fair, reproducible data collection.
- • The conclusion card maps to a bounded claim supported by the analysis.
Driving question: You built recombinant DNA on paper yesterday, but how do you force millions of bacteria to actually swallow that , and how do you find the few that did?
What you already know: Life-saving biotechnology raises hard questions about access because the same product must pass separate gates of price, patents, and regulation, so who controls those gates decides who the science actually helps.
New idea: Molecular workflows use controls and complementary separation or detection steps to evaluate a target, while each band, fraction, or remains limited by method resolution and sample quality.
Visual or model: F1. F1. A lesson illustration or teaching diagram for Cloning and purification workflow. Use it with E1-E3; it is a model or context image, not experimental or patient data. What to notice: Trace the labeled testing, treatment, or biological process and identify where evidence limits the decision.
- Observe or measure the relevant feature in today's lesson.
- Organize the observation with a stable evidence ID.
- Apply this rule: Define variables, controls, sampling, units, and the analysis plan before interpreting a result; analysis cannot repair biased or inconsistent measurement.
- Choose the option the evidence supports and state the limit of the conclusion.
Real biomedical example: Today the medical interventions team uses Cloning and to make a bounded evidence decision. A band, selected , or fluorescent fraction alone does not prove identity, , correct sequence, biological activity, or clinical suitability.
What the evidence supports: E1-E3 and F1 support the daily take-home when the response meets the stated success criteria.
What it cannot prove: The package does not support claims beyond this lesson's or any real patient diagnosis.
- • : A small, circular piece of DNA that lives apart from a bacterium's main and is used in the lab to carry a chosen gene into a cell.
- • recombinant DNA: Use the lesson context and glossary entry to explain recombinant DNA in your own words.
- • : An that joins two pieces of DNA together by sealing the gap in their backbone, vital in genetic engineering.
- • : The process by which a bacterial cell takes up foreign DNA, such as a , from its surroundings and begins using those new genes.
- • expression: The process of turning a gene on so its DNA instructions are used to make RNA and , deciding when and where a gene is active.
Use it now: Choose one decision option. Cite E1 and E3, then explain how the rule connects the evidence to your choice.
Go further, optional: The source links below are optional enrichment. Every fact required for today's local evidence decision appears in this lesson package.
National Center for Biotechnology Information is the source this lesson's claim is checked against:
Limit: A band, selected , or fluorescent fraction alone does not prove identity, , correct sequence, biological activity, or clinical suitability.
Define variables, controls, sampling, units, and the analysis plan before interpreting a result; analysis cannot repair biased or inconsistent measurement.
Limit: A well-organized classroom study can still be limited by , measurement quality, confounding, and the population represented.
You can carry out , selection, and steps.
Limit: E3 defines the classroom product or success criterion. It is not independent scientific evidence and cannot justify a clinical or causal claim.
PLTW-GEND-2026-12-07 · Simulated classroom evidence scenario
Your role: medical interventions team member
Decision: Your team must decide what the evidence from today's lesson supports before submitting the lab report named on today's page.
- • Explain the low yield by checking and , since growth conditions can turn output up or down.
- • Record the yield as fine and move on, since this carries the human gene and already makes the .
- • Measure from cultures grown under different conditions, because one alone cannot show what changes the yield.
Response: State one choice, cite at least two evidence IDs, explain the rule that connects them, and add one limitation. Submit it as the lab report.
Claim ceiling: Today's evidence supports a classroom claim about today's lesson. It cannot prove causation, diagnose a real patient, or justify action outside this room.
Reason for review: Your team must decide what the evidence from today's lesson supports before submitting the lab report named on today's page.
Context: Today the medical interventions team uses Cloning and to make a bounded evidence decision. A band, selected , or fluorescent fraction alone does not prove identity, , correct sequence, biological activity, or clinical suitability.
- • T1: Read the protocol in the PLTW course shell and gather your materials.
- • T2: Model by introducing the recombinant into host cells.
- • T3: Select transformed cells using the provided marker and record how many grew.
- • T4: Run the simulated step and note where the target appears.
- • T5: Record yield and one quality observation in your .
- • T6: Submit your cloning and results.
- • E1: National Center for Biotechnology Information is the source this lesson's claim is checked against:
- • E2: Define variables, controls, sampling, units, and the analysis plan before interpreting a result; analysis cannot repair biased or inconsistent measurement.
- • E3: You can carry out , selection, and steps.
Measurements: Use only the measurements, units, graph, or counts supplied in today's task. No additional patient measurement is implied.
Figure finding: Teaching diagram for Cloning and . Trace the labeled testing, treatment, or biological process and identify where evidence limits the decision. This is a teaching model, not patient or experimental data.
Uncertainty: This is a composite classroom scenario. Missing history, measurements, or confirmation tests remain unknown and limit the conclusion.
Rate or percent = part / comparison total x 100%. Percent change = (new - comparison) / comparison x 100%.
If 18 of 60 records meet a condition, the frequency is 18 / 60 x 100% = 30%.
Name the comparison total. A percent describes the supplied group and does not automatically predict an individual's outcome.
Use today's supplied counts to calculate one rate, risk, frequency, or percent change. Show the denominator and interpretation.
Students often think A polished answer about Cloning and is trustworthy even when its evidence source, comparison, or limitation is missing.. The trap: Presentation quality cannot raise the evidence level. A band, selected , or fluorescent fraction alone does not prove identity, , correct sequence, biological activity, or clinical suitability.
Workflow record:
- Transformation: introduced the recombinant plasmid into host cells using heat shock, which opens pores in the membrane so plasmid DNA can enter.
- Selection: plated cells on antibiotic medium. Only cells carrying the resistance gene on the plasmid survived. I counted 38 colonies on the plate with my recombinant cells and 0 on the no-plasmid control, which tells me selection worked.
- Purification: ran the first separation step, which split soluble protein away from cell debris. The target protein appeared in the soluble fraction.
- Yield and quality: estimated yield was moderate; one quality note is that the no-plasmid control showed no growth, so the colonies I counted really are transformed cells and not contamination.
| Step | Action | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Transformation | Heat shock plasmid into cells | Cells took up plasmid |
| Selection | Plate on antibiotic | 38 colonies; control 0 |
| Purification | First separation | Target in soluble fraction |
| Quality note | Check control plate | No growth, so no contamination |
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: Completes the workflow lab: a data table recording transformation, selection counts, fraction data, yield, and one quality observation across the cloning-to-purification pipeline.
- State the question and method.
- Present the observations and data with units.
- Explain the result, limitations, and next investigation.
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: Submit your cloning and purification workflow data table to Schoology before the end of block.
- CER:
- Claim, Evidence, Reasoning: make a claim, back it with evidence, explain your reasoning.
- SOP:
- Standard Operating Procedure, the exact steps to follow (especially in a lab).
- Tracker:
- Your PLTW progress log where you record completed evidence.
- myPLTW:
- The PLTW course site where you do the online activities. Find it in Clever with your Microsoft sign-in, right next to Schoology.
Tap the speaker to hear a term. Add two of these to your notebook glossary with a definition and an example in your own words.
Pick just 2 or 3 words from today and make them yours: write what each one means in your own words, name the context clue or evidence that helped, then give one example from what you actually did in Cloning and purification workflow. Try your own words first; the glossary is there if you get stuck. This is voluntary and counts as extra credit, so keep it short.
Saved on this device. Show Mr. Mendoza or add these to your notebook glossary to claim the extra credit.
Classroom documents for this lesson are posted in Schoology. Open Clever, then Schoology, and find each one by the name shown on its card.
Use this if you were absent, got stuck, or need another pass before you submit the lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched Recombinant DNA and cloning by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-4_When-Organs-Fail/4.1_Manufacturing-Human-Proteins; keywords:, pglo. Score 142. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
Use this if you were absent, got stuck, or need another pass before you submit the lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched Recombinant DNA and cloning by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-4_When-Organs-Fail/4.1_Manufacturing-Human-Proteins; keywords:, pglo. Score 138. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
Use this if you were absent, got stuck, or need another pass before you submit the lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched Recombinant DNA and cloning by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-4_When-Organs-Fail/4.1_Manufacturing-Human-Proteins; keywords:, pglo. Score 138. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
Sign in to Clever with your district Microsoft account to open Schoology or myPLTW. Follow today's posted steps. If myPLTW will not open, use the posted alternative and tell Mr. Mendoza. Turn in your completed work through the Schoology assignment.
Practice: try a question, then check your answer▸
Claim ceiling for this check: Today's evidence supports a classroom claim about today's lesson. It cannot prove causation, diagnose a real patient, or justify action outside this room.
A student makes a certain conclusion about Cloning and purification workflow from one classroom result. What must the student add before the conclusion is defensible?
Write an answer and pick a confidence to unlock the key.
Fast retrieval with instant answers, not the commit-then-reveal check above. Try each from memory first: write what you remember about the earlier units, then check yourself here.
Missed class or ready for more?▸
Run this before you touch the bench. It is built from the real lab procedure, so the decisions you make here are the ones you will make with the equipment in your hands.
I can name the procedure's purpose and the evidence I will record. I can name today's hazards and the control for each: Report any spill involving bacterial culture to the teacher immediately. My data table is ready before materials are handled.
Finish the checklist before you handle any material.
- • Wear nitrile gloves and safety goggles throughout the procedure.
- • Treat all bacterial cultures as BSL-1 organisms: avoid mouth contact and wash hands before leaving lab.
- • Dispose of all biological waste (plates, tubes, tips) in designated biohazard bags.
- • Wipe bench with 10% bleach or 70% ethanol before and after use.
- • Report any spill involving bacterial culture to the teacher immediately.
- • Do not eat, drink, or apply cosmetics in the lab area.
- 1Before materials are handled, identify the purpose, variables or comparison, controls, measurement units, and stop-work condition.
- 2Read the workflow protocol in the PLTW course shell and gather your materials.
- 3Model transformation by introducing the recombinant plasmid into host cells.
- 4Select transformed cells using the provided marker and record how many grew.
- 5Run the simulated purification step and note where the target protein appears.
- 6Record yield and one quality observation in your workflow data table.
- 7Submit your cloning and purification workflow results.
- 8Record each result in the prepared table before interpreting it. Mark missing, repeated, or invalid results truthfully.
- 9Complete the named cleanup and waste route, remove PPE safely, wash hands when required, and confirm the station is ready for the next group.
| Trial or sample ID | Independent condition | Measured result with units | Observation before interpretation | Quality-control note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Before the procedure, predict the result and cite the rule behind the prediction.
After the procedure, compare the result with the prediction and name one limitation or source of uncertainty.
What today's skills lead to. These are real health-science careers this course builds toward. Tap one to see, on the US Department of Labor's O*NET site, what the job actually involves, what it pays, and how fast it is growing.
Run the virtual and linked on the class site, recording selection counts and where the target elutes, then submit your workflow .
Learn.Genetics: Bacterial TransformationUse the submission route shown on today's today's page.
Class still runs. Complete the online activity above (it's self-guided). Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
Genetic Science Learning Center: CloningYou've passed Unit 2, so the optional extra-credit track is open. Complete reserved-unit work from home, including virtual labs, for extra credit. Each item shows its correct submission route.
Open the extra-credit track- CompleteEvery required part of the artifact is present, nothing left blank.
- AccurateThe science and the data are correct and match the evidence.
- Scientific reasoningYou explain your claim with evidence and reasoning (CER), not just an answer.
- Professional communicationClear, organized, labeled, and written the way a clinician or scientist would.
- SubmittedGo to Schoology to turn this in. Submit one PDF. Put your first and last name in the document header. Name the file: FirstName LastName - Assignment Title - YYYY-MM-DD.pdf. If you cannot get in, see Mr. Mendoza. Do not skip the work.
- Error analysis and method · counts doubleName a specific limit of the method and how it moved your result, and compare what you predicted to what happened. "Human error" does not count; say what about the procedure or instrument caused it.
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