During the biology lab, we did a various experiment to examine the hypothesis that there is a positive correlation between ancestral starch consumption and amylase gene copy numbers. These experiments were done to answer the research question: Is there an association between enzyme production, gene copy number, and gene evolution?!We did our experiments on the specific enzyme called Amylase which is responsible for hydrolyzing amylose to its monomers. At the very beginning of creating the calibration curve with measuring the absorbance of different standard amylase concentration, is critical to consider that the absorbance is proportional to the intensity of colour and the concentration of the solution.(Tracey 2017)meaning that when the colour of …show more content…
Therefore, when all starch breaks down to maltose, D-glucose, and dextrin, the colour of the solution changes to almost bright yellow (Tracey 2017). As the solution got more diluted from 10XI to 1000XI, meaning the concentration of amylase decreased during the dilution process the absorbance increased. My amylase concentration was 1.19 which was inconsistent with the hypothesis that states individuals with high starch consumption have high amylase concentration and gene copy number. DNA extraction is needed for genetic analysis and so for amplifying a particular gene.The DNA is extracted from buccal cells. The extraction method used in the lab was called Hot Shot method. In this method, the DNA was extracted by adding a strong base, NaOH, which made the solution basic.Then heated the mixture to 95C. NaOH is also used to break the hydrogen bonding between the base pairs(Tracey 2017). Then neutralized the basic solution with Tris buffer. The AMY1A gene on the extracted DNA amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR).One cycle of PCR reaction consists of three steps including denaturation, annealing, and extension. The reaction mixture which contains target DNA and other