Abstract

The purpose of this experiment was to analyze the effects of the presence of ionic solutions on the efficiency of the restriction enzyme EcoRI. The hypothesis was that if the ionic solutions were added, then it would increase efficiency of the restriction enzyme. Na+ and Mg2+ were the ionic solutions tested in this experiment. They were incubated with the uncut lambda DNA, buffer, distilled water, and restriction enzyme EcoRI overnight in a 2% solution of the ionic solutions. The control was the uncut lambda DNA with only the EcoRI restriction enzyme, and no other ionic solutions added. After the gel electrophoresis was run, there was not significant evidence to suggest that the ionic solutions increased the efficiency of EcoRI on the uncut lambda DNA because the 2 strands of DNA that resulted from the solution all traveled similar lengths in the same amount of time. All solutions had 2 strands cut in the end, with the first strand about 20 millimeters from the wells and the second strand about 40 millimeters from the well. The hypothesis was not supported by the results because the addition of the ionic solutions did not significantly increase the efficiency of EcoRI on the uncut lambda DNA. These results can be applied to research in gene editing fields because restriction enzymes are necessary in those fields. By having a better understanding of the process of restriction enzymes, scientists can increase efficiency in gene editing on organisms that can have greater benefits in society.