On April 6th, 2010, the AP Biology Class of West Boylston High School took a trip to the UMass Medical School's Regional Science Resource Lab in Worcester. There, they performed two laboratory experiments involving DNA, enzymes, and bacteria with the help of Ms. Karin Spahl, their guide. One lab was about bacterial transformation, in which the students made E. coli cells resistant to ampicillin, an antibiotic that normally kills these cells. The other lab was about restriction enzymes, in which members of the class used a technique called gel electrophoresis to separate fragments of DNA according to their base pair size.

Be sure to check out the photos below to see what the experiments were like:

Overall, the AP Bio class had a great time at UMass. The students would like to send a special thanks to Ms. Spahl for all her help at the Regional Science Resource Lab, and they would especially like to thank Mrs. Croteau, their teacher, for providing them with an experience that they will never forget.

This page was last updated on May 14th, 2010.