You will use your newly developed DNA test on three meat packages from an organic farm. This test will be used to determine the origin of organic meat as it is prohibited to label meat as organic if derived from double muscled cattle. Experimentally, this will be achieved by amplifying the STRs using PCR and analyzing the PCR product size using gel electrophoresis.Īfter identifying the gene responsible for double muscling, your last task will be to develop a DNA test. By detecting STR patterns and similar gene sequences in double muscled cattle DNA, your goal will be to narrow down the genomic location of the candidate gene. Your next task will be to perform genome scanning, which involves an analysis of the entire genome and identifying the candidate gene by using short tandem repeats (STRs) as markers. You will then draw a blood sample, and from that, extract DNA and perform further experiments in the lab. By studying the pedigree, you will learn about heritable traits and whether double muscling is autosomal or sex-linked and whether it is dominant or recessive.
In your first task you will fill in a pedigree to help identify the double muscled cattle. PC Building Simulator aims to teach even the most novice PC user how their machine is put together with step-by-step instructions explaining the order parts should be assembled and providing useful information on what each part is and its function. You will use polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and gel electrophoresis to perform genotyping in order to identify the gene that causes double muscling in cattle.Īs a researcher you will be called to a farm to investigate a case about double muscled cattle.
In the Animal Genetics simulation you will learn about Mendelian inheritance and how a mutation in DNA can give rise to an altered phenotype.