DONE!!!!

Research Paper...check.  Presentation...double check!  I can't believe I finished.  This has been an incredibly taxing few weeks with wrapping up my semester as well as finishing everything for S-STEM.  It is all almost behind me, and I think I finished with as much grace as could be expected.  I learned a lot of time more about time management and effective study habits again this semester, I made a ton of new friendships, and my girlfriend didn't leave me due to neglect (HAHA!), and I maintained my 4.0.  In my opinion I would call that a success.  I hope all of you are surviving this final push of projects and finals!!!.  I CAN"T WAIT TO RIDE MY BIKE AGAIN!!!

Deadlines.

With everything coming to an end in the next couple of weeks, I am trying not sweat the small stuff. My honors calculus project was pushed to Monday was moved to monday, and I have just over a week to finish my final research paper and create a powerpoint presentation for my unknown project.  I don't know how it is all going to come together, but I am confident that everything will work out the way it should.  Outside of being a big ball of stress, this semester is going well.  I am somehow managing to squeeze out another 4.0 for this semester, my non profit is doing very well, and I still have found time to work one day a week at the bike shop,which to be honest is more of a break than anything.

The honors project I am currently working on involves Newtons Method.  Below is a fractal image that shows a solution for f(x)=z^3-1 or z^3=0 when solved with Newton's Method.

Almost there!

It looks like my gene gun experiment will be more of a long term project, seeing as I will be doing my internship off campus next semester.  I am hoping to squeeze the project in during some "free time", that I may or may not have next semester.  I got the results of my research paper rough draft this week, and man, do I have a lot of changes to make.  I have been putting in some extra hours trying to crank this out, so I can concentrate on finals during the last few weeks of the semester.  A few classes are coming to an end which will leave me with more time to devote to this research paper and presentation for S-STEM.  Keep it up everybody, it's almost over!!!

S-STEM

This past week has probably been my most difficult week this last semester.  Trying to tackle all of my classes course work, preparing my honors calculus project for submission, S-STEM research time, I cannot seem to get everything done.  I am trying to take it one day at a time and overwhelm myself anymore than I already am.  hehe.

ON TO SCIENCE!!!

I am still waiting for parts to finish building my gene gun.  The excitement keeps building as more and more of my supplies are delivered.  Hopefully I can build a prototype by the end of the semester, which I will be able to expand on next semester.  As stressful as it has been, I actually got a lot of good experience when I was preparing a research paper for my Unknown project.  I mostly learned what to do, by all of the things that I didn't do while conducting my experiment.  4 weeks left in the semester.  Time to finish strong.

Redding Lab at ASU.

As some of you know, I am currently working on a gene gun for the Biosciences department.  As of last week I had little to no idea what I was doing, but thanks to a close friend of mine, that changed this week.  This friend is currently getting his PhD in biophysical chemistry and uses a gene gun on a regular basis!!!  As an added bonus, theirs is "homemade" as well, and the design of was incredibly simple.  A tank of helium gas was connected to a solenoid, which is controlled by a timer with a trigger.  The solenoid is then attached to some brass fittings, which eventually connect to a filter holder that houses the inoculated tungsten dust.  The filter holder is pointed inside of a container.  This is where the science happens!  Inside of this container, genes are shot into living organisms.  To avoid experiencing a deafening noise, a vacuum is attached to the container which essentially sucks out the high psi shot of gas that is delivered into the container.  

Part of this process is the preparation of a microcarrier.  The microcarrier will betungsten dust that is carefully prepared with a plasmid.  My friend Chris was also able to supply me with the protocol that his lab uses when preparing this dust.  Now I wait for all of my ordered materials to show up, and we can get this show on the road!

Not unknown anymore!

                                                                                    Today I found that my Unknown Bacteria #11 is Bacillus subtilis.  This is kind of a bummer as I was really hoping my bacteria was Bacillus cereus.  The latter bacteria causes food poisoning and is a nasty little organism.  Why I was hoping for this is beyond me.  Back to the matter at hand, Bacillus subtilis. Bacillus subtilis is a gram positive, endospore forming bacteria.  In contrast to Bacillus cereus, it has been used for healing disease such as dysentery.  Allegedly, soldiers in WWII ate camel feces as a cure for dysentery, because camel feces contains this bacteria, which is a known cure for dysentery.

I am also making progress on my gene gun project.  Most of the materials have been ordered, and tomorrow I will be going to ASU to learn how to prepare the microcarriers that will be used for the gene gun.  After that, 1.0 micron tungsten dust will be ordered, and I can start building our gun, which                                                                           can properly be called a "biolistic particle delivery                                                                                     system".

Gene Gun

Josh came to me yesterday afternoon and told me what my project for the semester will be, and I couldn't be more excited about it.  He wants me to develop and build a low cost gene gun.  A gene gun is used to introduce new genes into plant cells faster and easier than previous methods.  Essentially, a compressed gas is used to attach a genetic material to a living organism.  This is done by coating very small (1um) gold or tungsten particles in a desired gene and shooting them at a living organism.  The gold dust penetrates the cell wall allowing the desired gene to transfect the living organism's cells.   Typically these devices are very expensive, but Josh and I believe we can produce a low cost gun for use at Phoenix College.  For my first attempt at building a low cost gene gun, I will be modifying the nozzle of a store bought water gun.  North Carolina University has used an evolved idea of the water gun with great success.  Check it out!

Outside of this project I have been learning some basic lab techniques which have been very interesting.

Gene gun in action!

S-STEM Interview

This week I had my internship interview for the S-STEM program.  I was a little nervous about what questions would be asked, but in the end, I had nothing to really worry about.  Matt asked a few fun questions that helped me relax, and I will find out on Friday what my project will be.  My interests are geared more towards chemistry and applied mathematics, so hopefully they have something that will match my interests.  Today, I found out that next semester I will most likely be part of a project that will be sending a balloon 100,000 feet into the air and measuring the atmosphere's pressure.  A camera will be attached, which will allow us to take pictures of the curvature of the Earth's surface.  I'm pretty excited about all of these opportunities in my life right now.

Until I know more, enjoy a picture of fresh goat cheese that I just made! 

The chemistry behind cheese making is rather simple.  After milk is heated to a desired temperature, an acid is mixed in.  The acid (positive ions) separate the proteins (negative ions) from the milk.  Over time, the milk completely separates the proteins from the liquid.  The separate parts are called curds (what will become cheese), and whey (the by product of this process).