DNA barcoding biologists make billions!!

Year 10 biologists continue their DNA barcoding project using PCR to make billions of copies of DNA

Year 10 biologists continue their DNA barcoding project by amplifying DNA ready to analyse. The project is part of the Wellcome Genome Campus educational programme to extract and sequence insect DNA (https://www.yourgenome.org/theme/barcoding-for-beginners/). Zia takes up the story:

‘We are at the stage where we need to amplify the DNA. We mixed our DNA with a special enzyme that can still work at high temperatures and placed our samples in a mini PCR machine. This machine is able to make lots of copies of DNA, similar to the way our cells replicate DNA. The machine was connected to a programme that showed the process in real time, with animations to illustrate what is happening to the DNA as well as showing the increase in the number of copies as it progressed. At the end of the process we had made 34, 359, 738, 368 copies of our DNA! We are now ready to see this DNA on a gel using electrophoresis!’

Zia P.