How to Engineer a Protein

In-person 2 part class:

Saturday, March 28 from 10AM-2 PM EDT

Sunday, March 29 from 10AM-2 PM EDT

What are proteins?

Are they what you eat? Do they make you swole? Turns out, proteins are the workhorses of the cell and they do nearly everything!

Proteins are chains of amino acids--small molecules strung together that are the ultimate product of genes. These genetically encoded molecules have vast functions in cells, allowing for movement, speeding up chemical reactions, and serving as signaling molecules within and between cells.

Deficiency in particular proteins can lead to diseases, for example, insulin deficiency causes diabetes. 50 years ago, scientists discovered a way to engineer microbes into protein production factories using recombinant DNA technology.

This breakthrough revolutionized biological therapeutics. Today, nearly every therapeutic protein is made this way, from monoclonal antibodies to GLP-1 receptor agonists—proteins that mimic naturally occurring hormones to help regulate blood sugar, support weight loss, and treat metabolic diseases.

In this workshop, you will learn how to transform E. coli into protein-producing factories!

What you'll learn:

• You’ll isolate the GFP from the bacteria using an “affinity resin” to capture the molecule.
• We will conclude the workshop by analyzing the purification process via SDS-PAGE (another type of gel electrophoresis).

Image from Biorad pGlo plasmid resources.

Jen Bohn (she/her) is currently the Assistant Director of RockEdu at Rockefeller University. She received her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Michigan, the place where she also fell in love with science education and mentoring. Jen hopes to encourage and help people to learn the unique ways in which they personally connect with science, thus creating a scientific space that is both inviting and inclusive.

Info: In this session, you'll take the transformed bacteria in overnight cultures, break them open, and extract GFP! You'll learn how to lyse E. coli cells and purify the fluorescent protein. By the end of this session, you'll have successfully extracted and purified a glowing protein.

Info: In this final session, you’ll analyze your purified GFP using SDS-PAGE, a protein analysis technique used in research labs. This method separates proteins by size, allowing you to visually confirm the purity and size of your protein.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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