Ironwood Ridge High School

Nighthawk's Nest Biotechnology News

Respect the past. Embrace the future.  

"Betty" and "Reggy" (and the chowls) will be reporting on goings-on from A232-236 here at Nighthawk's Nest Biotechnology News.

"Betty" and "Reggy" want you to come be a part of something special at Nighthawk Biotechnology-Next Generation.

We are the future. And the future is now.

And...we have awesome stickers. 

#nighthawkbiotechnextgen

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"It's a magical world...Let's go exploring!"--Bill Watterson  

10/6/2023

We are now posting most news to the Schoology website for the course. Nighthawk Biotech continues!

5/17/2023

Summer is here...and Betty and Reggy have a special visitor--"Moab," their long-lost cousin from Utah! Moab will be in A236 a bit until returning home. Welcome, Moab! And have a great summer!

5/11/2023

More gifts for the pipetting prairie dogs! Betty and Reggy got their own crispy treats, complete with names! They love biotech! They love free stuff! And they're ready for the summer!

4/28/2023

Final pictures from Bioscience 2! Almost end of the year. #itsagreatdaytobeanighthawk

3/29/2023

Betty and Reggy got new treats! They've been enjoying the Tootsie Rolls, and they're having daily peanut butter crackers and bananas. And Reggy got a business card from a sub that came by the other day! New treats are always appreciated. They love snacks! They love free stuff!

3/29/2023

Check out these awesome #outoftheblue #CRISPR transformed bacteria using heat-shock methods and arabinose plates to express the gene. So awesome! 

2/28/2023

Check out these awesome Lambda DNA ECORI restriction enzyme digests. 3 restriction fragments. Awesome! #lovinlambda #ecor1digest 

2/8/2023

Check out this #awesomeposter from the #nighthawkphylogenyproject and #nighthawkproteomicsinstitute! Amazing! Poster is now posted...in lab for years to come. 

#itsagreatdaytobeanighthawk

2/7/2023

Nighthawks, check out this AWESOME Wixsite from 7th period! We made genetics posters with Google Draw and some folks did websites--fantastic!

https://jgreer84.wixsite.com/mysite

#onceanighthawkalwaysanighthawk

#nighthawkgenetics

2/7/2023

Enjoyed making new Nighthawks with the 8th grade visit last week and Open House last night!

#newnighthawks

#onceanighthawkalwaysanighthawk

1/30/2023

Betty and Reggy are ready for the Super Bowl! They're super-into it this year with my hometown Philadelphia Eagles in it. Here they are re-enacting the "Philly Special" play-call for a touchdown from the Super Bowl the Eagles won a few years ago. Go Eagles!

#itsaspecialdaytobeanighthawk

1/19/2023

Awesome agarose gels from Biotech 2 today to compare homozygous versus heterozygous alleles in parents and children. From the Gel Viewer. Fantastic! 

#awesomeagarose

#itsanawesomedaytobeanighthawk

1/16/2022

Still having fun with the awesome RNA-protein manipulatives. Complete polypeptide chains from 7th period! Protein synthesis, translation!

#itsagreatdaytobeanighthawk     

1/10/2022

Wednesday January 18th: 9th grade Bioscience CTE Day--Fun activities all day in the lab with my 9th grade classes and some others! Everyone gets awesome stickers. 

1/31: 8th grade Day--Welcome Future Nighthawks!

2/6: 8th grade Open House--Welcome Future Nighthawks!

#futurenighthawks                         

#onceanighthawkalwaysanighthawk

#itsagreatdaytobeanighthawk        

1/5/2022

We have a muscle cell now, to go with the "Squirrel Crossing" sign. 

1/2/2022

Ordering customized primers for doing some PCR on lambda phage. Getting lots more rbcL primer for PCR on plant leaves next year too. But capability to sequence phage DNA coming soon. Tremendous! 

Phages are pretty awesome. Check out #phagemanno! https://phagesdb.org/phages/Manno/ Unsequenced so we can't do PCR on phage Manno yet. Also, class mascots now on the website (complete with Chowl Stickers)! Enjoy!

#onceanighthawkalwaysanighthawk

#phagemanno

#lambdaphage

#itsagreatdaytobeanighthawk

12/19/2022

It's a great day to be a Nighthawk! Casual dress today for the last day of the 1st semester, no lab coat, just my awesome Nighthawk sweatshirt from #nighthawkPTO! Finally, we have CO2 (not oxygen), tank for incubator was replaced today! We have the medium, we have the tank, we have the incubator....still evaluating the whole setup, but hoping to possibly start human cell culturing at some point, maybe next school year. We'll see!

Lots going on for 2nd semester. January will start with Bioscience 1 OSHA certification courses, and electrophoresis work involving short tandem repeats of DNA...Bioscience 2 will be finishing Nighthawk Phylogeny Project and Proteomics Institute, then working on forensic applications of PCR and electrophoresis and writing up the results of their Independent Projects. 

Have an awesome holiday! 

#awesomenighthawksweatshirt     #itsagreatdaytobeanighthawk     #nighthawkbiotechnextgen     #flynighthawksfly

12/16/2022

Betty and Reggy want to thank everyone for the gifts! They got markers, cookies, chocolates...they love getting free stuff! Awesome! Happy Holidays from #nighthawkbiotechnextgen!

12/15/2022

And there it is. We have A260/280 Nanodrop-confirmed clean and vortexed PCR product eluted in 1mL ultra-pure MilliQ water from spinach leaves! Check out these awesome gel electrophoresis samples to confirm the PCR, with a variety of awesome stain colors. Done with BIORAD Gel Viewer software. High purity DNA...lots of ratios at 1.8-2.0. Fantastic! #nighthawkbiotechnextgen #thefutureisnow 

Into the freezer they go! Memorialized for years to come as part of our DNA Library in "The Room." #itsagreatdaytobeanighthawk    

12/14/2022

Bioscience 1 students have conducted a start-to-finish Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) with their very own DNA that they extracted from a spinach leaf! We used Promega GoTaq and rbcL primer with Creosol Red Loading Dye, and students learned how to work the thermal cycler. 

Tomorrow we clean the samples with ETOH and other buffer, elute the DNA in ultra-pure MilliQ water, vortex, and use the Thermofisher Nanodrop to test A260/280 purity. Nanodrop station is ready! We are also going to run gels to confirm there's PCR product in the tubes. Big day--Betty and Reggy will be there! Gonna be awesome! #nighthawkbiotechnextgen

Check out this awesome gel from Bioscience 2. Same PCR amplicon length for both samples. This is BIO-RAD Fast Blast Stain on the White Tray using Gel Viewer Software. So awesome. 

12/6/2022

Bioscience 2 students are taking final data for their Independent projects.

Examining transformation of E. coli with pGLO plasmid with an illuminator

Experimental investigations of isopod (rolly polly) behavior and response to stimuli and environmental changes

Using a vortex to mix an extracted DNA sample prior to testing for purity level with a Nanodrop

Awesome! Biotechnology is AWESOME!!

#nighthawkbiotechnextgen

12/05/2022

Bioscience 1 students learned how to do Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) with the thermal cycler today and also learned how to measure DNA purity with Thermofisher Nanodrop. 

We have a new theme song. The song will be unveiled to Bioscience I-II classes this week, and to Biology classes in January. And we are working on a short video montage. 

12/3/2022

Thank you to #UAKEYS for coming to The Nighthawk's Nest to talk about the University of Arizona KEYS intensive summer program. Check out the UA KEYS Twitter and other social media with a photo from their visit with me, Betty, and Reggy!

Bioscience students, get your applications in soon! We hope to bring the first Nighthawk to #UAKEYS in almost a decade this year. Let's break the streak! This is the year!! Pipetting prairie dogs! Yes!!

12/1/2022

Bioscience 2 students are completing data-taking for their Independent Projects in the laboratory during a 2-week-long intensive research block. Topics vary widely, including enzymatic juice-making and cheesemaking efficiency, GMO presence in strawberries, reaction to stimulus in pillbugs (rolly-pollies), pGLO transformation of E. coli and its effect on antibiotic resistance, and testing for mold using malt agar. Exciting results coming...stay tuned! 

Bioscience 1 students have had an interesting semester learning DNA extraction, PCR, gel electrophoresis, and Nanodrop purity testing. Students have presented a variety of current topics in biotechnology and other lab highlights including making yogurt using probiotic fermentation. Students are also learning a variety of laboratory routines, including sterile techniques, autoclave usage, biowaste disposal, lab cleanliness, incubation, centrifugation, pipetting, and using a Milli-Q ultra-pure water fountain. 

9th graders built a massive DNA double helix with plastic manipulatives this week. Awesome! 

Stay tuned for more. 

#nighthawkbiotechnextgen