Directions: Please answer the following questions briefly but completely.

Every week has 20 points x 5 =

100 points. Only the latest submission is kept. You can revise your answers until the due date.

Week 1

1. Based on the video you watched, give at least 5 examples on how you can prevent contamination
from your samples during PCR. (10 points)

a. As much as feasible, divide the pre- and post-PCR spaces into two separate areas. It will allow for the
execution of further indicated preventative measures, such as maintaining positive air pressure.

b. Use separate equipment, such as refrigerators and freezers, between the pertinent pre- and post-PCR
facilities.

c. Pre-PCR to post-PCR processing should only be done in one direction. The potential sources of
contamination shouldn't be allowed to reach the pre-PCR area using this one-way technique.

d. It is essential to periodically maintain distinct sets of PPE for the pre- and post-PCR sites, keep these
PPE sets apart, and carry out frequent cleaning in order to avoid contamination from adhering to PPE
and spreading elsewhere.

e. Use the proper dressing areas at the entrances and exits of the pre-PCR and post-PCR spaces so that
PPE may be donned or removed before entering or leaving each of them.

2. Please give 5 ways on how you can apply laboratory safety and Good Laboratory Practice in the field
of molecular biology. (10 points)

a. It is necessary for molecular biologists to be adept at wearing and doffing the following PPE:
protective clothing, gloves, shoes, and eye and face shields. This is similar to the standard laboratory
safety field.

b. Provide dedicated equipment or materials in each area, such as pipettes, vortexers, and tabletop
centrifuges.

c. Equipment should be regularly decontaminated to keep the lab environment clean.

d. Change your personal protective equipment to comply with your laboratory's Standard Operating
Procedures (SOP).

e. Consistently follow the unidirectional workflow.

Week 2
After finishing the Labster Simulations, please answer the following questions via text submission. This
assignment is not groupwork. Please take note of the due date.

1. In your own words, give me 5 examples how you can maintain safety in the lab? (10 points)

a. Personal protection equipment (PPE) use is essential. PPE may protect you against potentially
hazardous or contagious chemicals as well as germs entering your portal of entry. 

b. Maintaining Good Hygiene. Wash your hands before leaving the lab and after doing anything possibly
dangerous. By doing this, a potential exposure route will be blocked and harmful substances won't be
dispersed.

c. Labeling each container with its contents is a smart idea. This is essential to notify anybody entering
the lab or working close by of any potential dangers.

d. Identify the locations of the eyewash stations, safety showers, and fire extinguishers in the lab. On-
site decontamination equipment, including eyewash stations and emergency showers, are provided.
They let employees to cleanse their bodies of possibly harmful substances.

e. It is not permitted to eat or drink in laboratories. Risks to one's personal safety and risks of failing to
meet regulatory or grant agency standards, which could negatively affect a person, a work unit, or the
institution as a whole, are the main reasons why eating and drinking are prohibited in areas that use or
store hazardous materials.

2. In your own words, based on your own understanding, please define biosafety and how is it different
from lab safety. Give me at least three examples of biosafety practices in the laboratory. (10 points)

 The subject of biosafety focuses on the safe manipulation of unexpected occurrences brought
on by pathogenic diseases. It involves the application of knowledge or other strategies to
control the spread of biohazards that might harm people, animals, or the environment. The
distinction between it and laboratory safety is that laboratory safety refers to a wide application
of being safe against contamination and other situations inside the lab. While biosafety is a
component or a type of laboratory that must deal with a certain class of dangerous diseases,
there are many degrees of it to deal with various classes/levels of microorganisms based on
their effects. Avoiding mouth pipetting because doing so could lead to ingesting the liquid
specimen is one example of a biosafety procedure. Others include wearing lab coats, gloves,
safety glasses, and any other protective equipment as necessary, depending on the level of
biosafety, and cleaning the workspace before and after each use as well as as soon as spills
occur.

Week 3

In your own words, write 5 ways of how to avoid contamination in laboratory samples. (10 points)
a. Keeping a clean and sterile workplace is essential for preventing infection. Each piece of laboratory
apparatus has to be regularly cleaned and disinfected.

b. Being organize in the laboratory. To avoid having to clean anything at the last minute and risking
contamination or the timeliness of your assay, it is essential to set aside everything that has to be
decontaminated before an experiment. You may avoid dust accumulation, which might contaminate
your samples with bacterial and fungal cells, by organizing your supplies of bottles and other solutions.

c. It is essential to operate in an atmosphere where the air won't affect your sample when transferring
samples. Laminar flow hoods move the air around a work area to keep airborne microorganisms from
coming into contact with the sterile object.

d. Always use the proper safety equipment, especially when working in sterile settings.

e. Automating some of the process stages is the simplest way to prevent contamination in lab samples.
By adopting automated liquid handling equipment, the danger of human error and sample
contamination in your lab may be significantly reduced.

In one short paragraph, what are the similarities and differences of disinfection and sterilization. (10
points)

 The fundamental similarity between disinfection and sterilization is that both are
decontamination techniques. The main contrast between sterilizing and disinfecting is the
technique of disinfection, which involves removing or reducing potentially harmful
microorganisms from inorganic objects and surfaces. On the other hand, sterilization means
eliminating all microbes. In addition to being necessary during critical periods like surgery,
sterilization includes the kind of comprehensive cleaning required in settings like industry, labs,
and hospitals. While, the most practical or straightforward method of decontamination in daily
life is disinfection.

Week 4

In your own words, please answer briefly (in short sentences/paragraphs) the following questions. (5
points each).

1. What happens if there is a mistake in the DNA code?

 DNA is a chemical substance that is vulnerable to environmental attack, and any ensuing
damage or error in its coding, if not repaired, may cause mutation and perhaps illness. Tobacco
smoke is an example of a mistake in the DNA code that can lead to mutation, since it can trigger
mutations in lung cells and, ultimately, lung cancer.

2. What are the types of mutations in translation?

  Base substitutions: a type of mutation in which one base pair is substituted for another base
pair.
 Deletions: a kind of mutation when a region of DNA loses one or more nucleotides.
 Insertions: a kind of mutation where a DNA region has one or more nucleotides added to it.

3. How is mutation important to evolution?

 Evolution requires mutations to take place. Every creature's genetic makeup underwent a
mutation at first. Some mutations change a gene that results in a new characteristic that offers
the organism an advantage and helps them thrive in their environment. What occurred to
something may only be said to as evolution if it had characteristics that allow it to survive in a
changing environment.

4. Do you favor Genetically Modified Organisms? Why or why not?

 Given their numerous advantages for research, health, and agriculture, among other things, I am
in favor of genetically modified organisms. GMO in agriculture provides increased crop yields,
cheaper prices for food or drug manufacture, decreased pesticide usage, more nutritional
content and food quality, pest and disease resistance, enhanced food security, and therapeutic
advantages to the world's rising population. Apart from a more sustainable approach to global
hunger relief, genetically modified drugs and medical treatments are frequently employed.
Chemotherapy, flu vaccinations, and diabetic insulin injections are examples of GMO
discoveries.

Week 5

In your own words, please answer briefly (in short sentences/paragraphs), give me 5 applications of
Western Blot in medical diagnostics. (20 points)

1. Confirmatory Test for HIV Infection: The procedure is reversed since Western Blot looks for known
antibodies rather than a specific virus. Rather than the HIV virus itself, the test identifies HIV antibodies.

2. Confirmatory Test for FIV Infection: In vaccinated and naturally or experimentally infected cats, the
Western Blot Method was employed to analyze antibody responses to numerous FIV proteins.

3. Confirmatory Test for BSE Infection: Western blots are produced by recognizing three distinct bands
as a result of an anti-prion protein antibody response to BSE infection.

4. Confirmatory Test for Lyme Infection: The patient's blood sample's proteins are separated into bands
by the lab, and the pattern is compared to a template pattern made from cases of proven Lyme disease.
5. Identifying Protein Level Changes Across Treatment Groups: The concentration of each protein in the
therapy may be determined by Western blotting when each sample correlate with a distinct treatment
group.