StarGenetics

The first assignment introduces you to the application, please follow through all steps of the tutorial. You will then analyze a novel mutant, and determine the type of mutation through testcrosses (Exercise 1). Before you carry out your Chi-Square analysis you need to determine what your expected ratios are (hint carry out Punnett Square Analysis). You find an example of Chi-square analysis on page 238 of your textbook. The second exercise shows how the transmission of traits from one generation to the next can be affected by chromosomal location or linkage. Linked genes are found in close proximity on the same chromosome and fail to follow Mendel’s law of independent assortment. By taking advantage of recombination during meiosis, the distance between two genes can be determined by finding the recombination frequency in the offspring. In this activity you explore how recombination can be used to map genes on a chromosome. You will create a linkage map. For a better understanding of how to construct a linkage map please see Figure 12.11 Constructing a Linkage Map in your textbook. Throughout this activity and all following laboratories it will be necessary to keep a lab notebook. A lab notebook is a scientific record of the experiments performed and enables any scientist to reproduce the experiment. Remember to take careful notes in your lab notebook. As we progress, you see that it is important to understand what information goes into what section of the report. As you perform more experiments, you should become better at presenting the material in an organized and understandable fashion. This module you will compose the Methods, Results, and Conclusions of a lab report. Methods The methods section will have two parts a section dealing with the materials used and a section dealing with experimental procedure. In the materials section, it should begin by mentioning the program that was used to simulate the experiments. In addition, it should include the materials necessary to repeat the experiments. Indicate the organism, and any techniques and equipment used in the experiments. If equipment is shown, you should describe it. This section should be written in complete sentences. Define any abbreviations used. The Experimental procedure section should give enough detail to allow other scientists to repeat the experiment. You should not mention the computer program (i.e. don't say I selected this, these conditions were left at default, etc.). You need to pretend you are a scientist carrying out the experiments. There should be enough detail to permit the reader to critically evaluate the methods chosen and to repeat the experiment. Results and Discussion The Results section is a description of what you discovered. Begin with an overview, giving the main conclusions. Findings should be described and tables and graphs should be referenced where appropriate. Present tables and graphs at the end of your lab report (however, the inclusion of the data will be graded in this section of the lab report). Number them consecutively (Table 1, Table 2, Table 3, etc.). Graphs are considered figures and should be numbered consecutively as well (Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3, etc.). – Include screen shots of results, or downloads (PDF format). You should describe in detail what is shown in the figures and /or tables, not just point to the figures and/or tables. Discuss your results and the interrelationships in this section. The discussion of your results is the meat of the lab report. It shows your reader that you can explain, analyze, and interpret the data and tease out information that is not readily observable. This part of the lab focuses on the significance or meaning of the results. You should include and compare results from similar investigations, discuss and analyze experimental errors, discuss the strengths and limitations of the experimental design, suggest future improvements to the existing design. Conclusion The Conclusion section should begin by stating the major conclusions to be drawn from your results. Next, discuss the logical steps that led you to those conclusions, and how the different sets from your Results section of data interrelate. Compare your results with comparable data from other sources like the textbook or articles from Excelsior’s online library. Indicate any limitations of your data and larger implications. Discuss if your results raise any specific questions or suggest any new experiments. 1. Open http://star(dot)mit(dot)edu/genetics/ and look for information about downloading and use of the application under the User Manual link. You might also look for video files under Video Tutorials. 2. Download the application and open. Update Java as needed. 3. Work through the Star genetics tutorial Fruitfly . 4. Complete the Star genetics Fruit fly exercise 1 level 2. 5. Complete the Star genetics Fruit fly exercise 2 level 2. 6. As you proceed through the assignment, write down your observations in your lab notebook. 7. Your laboratory report (link posted under M1A1 on the course site) for this experiment consists of a Methods section, a Results section, a Conclusion section and a References page. However, you need to write in paragraph form and include the information in the questions of an integrated fashion in your results section. 8. The Methods section (link posted under M1A1 on the course site) should contain descriptions of the procedure and materials for all experiments. 9. In the Conclusion, you can refer to the Background and the information in your textbook readings to show how your findings relate to the concepts presented there.