Team:Exeter/Notebook/August13
Thursday, 13 August
Lab Work
Adam and Nina repeated the experiment we had done on the 10th of August to test the effectiveness of the new B. subtilis promoters, however this time they left the B. sub cultures (one of which was engineered with blue chromoprotein and the other with red fluorescent protein - see details on 10th of August) for 72 hours rather than 24 to give the colour more chance to develop. The experiment did not work again so we concluded it was unlikely that the promoters work in B sub.
Science Communication and Outreach
We posted a survey on social media to gauge the attitude of the public towards genetic engineering. Our aim is to write a infographic responding to people's concerns, as part of human practices.
Collaborations with Experts/Industry
We emailed Jonathan Teague and Dr Glen Wheeler, two experts Prof. Mike Allen had recommended we get in contact with. Jonathan got back to us the same day with links to some useful resources including a review he'd written of current coral health monitoring practices, a talk called 'The use of 3D printing in marine research' (which included information on the settling rates of coral polyps attached to 3D printed structures), and a paper discussing how different structures affect coral settling rates and reef rehabilitation. In particular, Jonathan highlighted a point mentioned in the paper that polyps grow better on rough and abrasive surfaces.