Individual Blog Post #2

So far, the hardest challenge of our research project has been running a gel with clear results. On our first trial, we didn't measure or weigh our samples and chose portions of our organisms that weren't completely muscular in nature. The results were blotchy bands. Our second trial went better, as we chose samples of similar weight and checked that each sample came from adductor muscle or adapted muscle, such as a tentacle (in the case of squid). I would advise other groups to use a very small sample size (~0.04 g) to avoid smeared bands.

Unfortunately, the second gel tore when we removed it from the screen. We quickly ran another gel, using leftover supernatant from our original samples. Although the microtubes had sat out for nearly two hours, we hoped the proteins were intact enough to give us clear results. Indeed, even though some bands appeared slightly bloated, the overall pattern was clear enough to compare species to each other. Our problems with sample size and choice, as well as the hasty preparation of the third gel electrophoresis, will definitely be discussed thoroughly in our error report.

Although some bands are bloated, this is the best gel out of three for our group!