GFP and chromatography
Wed, Dec 9, 2026 · Week 16 · Genetics of Disease (Medical Interventions)
Today's goal: Explain how GFP and chromatography let you track and separate a target protein.
What a finished product looks like
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.
Definitions:
- Chromatography: a method that separates proteins by how strongly they bind to a material (resin) in a column.
- Elution: releasing the bound target protein from the resin so it flows out into a collected fraction.
Why GFP helps: GFP is fused to the target protein and glows green under UV light, so wherever the green glow is, the target protein is. That lets me see an otherwise invisible protein.
The steps, labeled:
1. Load: the protein mixture is added to the column; the target binds the resin while other proteins start to wash through.
2. Wash: buffer rinses away the unbound contaminants.
3. Elute: a change in buffer releases the target protein into the collected fractions.
Prediction: if purification worked, the elution fractions are the ones that should glow green under UV, because that is where the target protein comes off the column.
Also due today: Attach your labeled chromatography diagram to your PLTW tracker and submit it to the course shell.
WebXam problem for today's skill
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.