Can you believe it? We’re already at the end of our summer vacation. I’m sure that you are busy getting your classroom ready for the first day of school. We’ve had a really busy summer as well, designing new experiments and equipment to be used in your classroom laboratory. I’m going to highlight a few of them in this blog post, but if you’d like to see all of our offerings, check out our New Product Flier (available here).
First of all — have you done the GFP or Blue Colony transformations in the past, but you want to try something different this year? Try performing our Rainbow Transformation experiment this year! Your students will transform bacteria with a new set of rainbow color plasmids that transform the non-pathogenic cells into bright, colorful cells!
Are you teaching Medical Diagnostics this year? We’ve developed a great new experiment that simulates the tests that medical doctors use to detect diabetes mellitus, a chronic disease that leads to high blood sugar. After collecting patient histories, students will analyze “urine samples” to detect high blood sugar. Next, an immunoassay is used to distinguish between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Students will gain experience in data collection and critical analysis of results while exploring a relevant topic in human health.
On the equipment side, we’ve developed the EdvoFoto™ Digital Gel Documentation system. We have integrated an easy-to-use digital camera with a specially designed hood to provide a low cost solution for gel photodocumentation. The EdvoFoto™ works with our Midrange UV Transilluminator, which you may already have in your classroom.
Finally, we want to send you into the new school year with a fun freebie — a printable poster! This poster details the birth of DNA fingerprinting, a technique that identifies people via genetic differences. The file is available in the Quick Guide section of our website (click here for the poster). It can be printed on any large format printer or projected on your smartboard.
Have a wonderful school year, everyone!
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