The Fake Royal Naboo

I  started with three new DNA extractions with the E.Z.N.A Insect kit protocol and I ran a gel with the three new DNA samples. I put the gel under the UV lighting and there was actually some DNA! There was not as much DNA as the first protocol I used, but the E.Z.N.A protocol delivered enough DNA that there could be a chance of doing a PCR with it. I am excited to move forward with these results and see where it will take me.

                                    

 

Earlier this week was an adventure out to the northside of PC's campus! We were going to dig up an ant hill and find the queen. We ended up digging into plenty of dirt with the shovel and eventually piling it into the bucket. It was undetermined if we had secured the queen or not. When we got back in the lab we put the contents of the bucket into a TLC chamber. It is unclear if we have the queen at the moment, but it seems as though we do since the ants are now creating mini chambers for the larvae. It's pretty amazing how they create so many tunnels.

The established home for the ants.

Looking at larvae under a dissecting scope.