Genetics Lab

[ArkansasRanger]

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Ever take it? I'm signed up for it this fall, but I really don't want to be in it. I hate labs, and I hate wasting time which is what labs seem to do more than anything. I could think of a better way to spend my Wednesday afternoons.

It's a senior level biology. I've got a lot of bio background. Anyway, if I drop the lab I'll move from being enrolled in 12 semester hours (full-time) to 11 hours (part-time). Physics I with lab and organic I with lab are the other courses on my agenda.


If you were going to take genetics would you take the lab?

 

[phathead]

I thought it was a virtual standard requirement to take the lab with genetics?

In any case, I thought genetics was probably the easiest lab course I took in all of college.

 

[rxlea]

At my schools, the lab and lecture could be taken separately. Although the lab might be fun, it could also be a complete waste of time. If I was in your position I would use that time that would be spent in lab to go get a facial and a massage

 

[crazybob]

You could ask NaOH if he has taken it, and what he thought of it.

If you're taking it in LR, I can ask some of my friends from school about what they thought of it. If you want, I can ask them which professors they've had, so I can give you relevant information based on which instructor will be teaching your lab.

 

[PharmTech8241]

I took the lecture and it was a joke...I'm pretty sure all you do in the lab is pcr and blotting...maybe building a promoter at the extreme but I'm pretty sure it will be a joke

 

[PharmBoy8]

Genetics and the lab was a requirement to obtain my biology degree. Though I have to say this lab was a pain in the butt. We had to raise a family of fruit flies, which took up a lot of free time.

Once we raised our precious family, we killed them, then merticulously inspected them under a microscope one by one, looking for traits we could plot on a chromosome. This then lead to two 10 page lab reports about how alleles seperate, ect.

Mind you, this was a 300 level class and was 5 credits, couldnt opt out of the lab. Not sure how your school deals with genetics, but hopefully it is less of a hassle for you.

Cheers!

 

[Somnion]

Genetics and the lab was a requirement to obtain my biology degree. Though I have to say this lab was a pain in the butt. We had to raise a family of fruit flies, which took up a lot of free time.

Once we raised our precious family, we killed them, then merticulously inspected them under a microscope one by one, looking for traits we could plot on a chromosome. This then lead to two 10 page lab reports about how alleles seperate, ect.

Mind you, this was a 300 level class and was 5 credits, couldnt opt out of the lab. Not sure how your school deals with genetics, but hopefully it is less of a hassle for you.

Cheers!

That was exactly how my own Genetics labs were (I also needed it for my Biology degree). I think we used some type of gas to "knock out" the flies, and we had to inspect each one. We even had to breed flies with specific traits (white eyes, no eyes, legs growing out of their head, etc.). We did this for like 4 weeks or so and then had one massive lab report on it.

 

[ArkansasRanger]

You could ask NaOH if he has taken it, and what he thought of it.

If you're taking it in LR, I can ask some of my friends from school about what they thought of it. If you want, I can ask them which professors they've had, so I can give you relevant information based on which instructor will be teaching your lab.

Hey thanks but I'm taking it at my old alma mater: Ass Jockey U.

 

[ArkansasRanger]

Yeah, the whole meticulous/microscope/lab report thing was what I was hoping to avoid. The lecture-type material is interesting. I read a book about genetics a while back and started then thinking about taking it, plus I could use the upper level science course with a good grade. Biology is much more natural for me than the physical sciences.

 

[PharmBoy8]

That was exactly how my own Genetics labs were (I also needed it for my Biology degree). I think we used some type of gas to "knock out" the flies, and we had to inspect each one. We even had to breed flies with specific traits (white eyes, no eyes, legs growing out of their head, etc.). We did this for like 4 weeks or so and then had one massive lab report on it.

Ya, we called it "Fly Nap" and some days I can still smell it, haha. My TA actually dared me to sniff a concentrated amount of it, I did, and well lets say it was like the time my lab partner mistakened chloroform for water. 🙂

 

[pharm B]

If I didn't have to take the Genetics lab, I'd skip it. It really was a rehash of previously learned techniques and a draw-out of cheesy experiments.

At one point we counted different styles/colors of corn kernels off of one ear of corn to verify the appropriate ratio was present.

We counted corn.

 

[rxlea]

If I didn't have to take the Genetics lab, I'd skip it. It really was a rehash of previously learned techniques and a draw-out of cheesy experiments.

At one point we counted different styles/colors of corn kernels off of one ear of corn to verify the appropriate ratio was present.

We counted corn.

We counted corn in Biology 101 at the CC. I can't believe they had you do that in Genetics.

 

[delano2000]

I will be taking Genetics this fall, lecture only.

 

[20YearsOfSnow]

At our school genetics is a 3 credit hour lecture and there is a separate 3 credit hour genetics engineering lab that doesn't tie in with the lecture course at all. You need to take one or the other to graduate.

I can't imagine a genetics lab being helpful (as in you probably won't learn enough to make it worthwhile). Add another class, something fun, to put you back up at full-time.

 

[pearljam5a1]

Genetics lab was awful. My professor was obsessed with aseptic technique. I think it's great that he feels that way, but when there was 5-6 people working in each hood and we didn't wear gloves... it got kind of difficult to keep particles from landing in your auger and infecting your plants. It was really annoying to have to start completely over after 6 weeks of work. We also did the fruit fly experiment which was not fun at all. We did electroporesis to try and add bioluminescence to plants using plasmids. We counted corn kernels as well. We flipped some coins.

It was an ok lab but my professor was horrible and it could have been a much better experience. I always got the sense that he was teaching because he had to but was just there for the research.

 

[horseraddish]

I took the lecture and it was a joke...I'm pretty sure all you do in the lab is pcr and blotting...maybe building a promoter at the extreme but I'm pretty sure it will be a joke

Building a gene promoter, that would certainly be impressive. Maybe utilizing a promoter in some sort of expression system or building a primer for a PCR, that sounds more standard.

 

[ShadowRX]

All my friends that took Genetics lab at UH said it was hell (didn't have to take it, so glad I didn't). Fruit flies were the name of the game - breeding, taking stats, coming in during nights and weekends to deal with them.

Crazy stories...

 

[crazybob]

All my friends that took Genetics lab at UH said it was hell (didn't have to take it, so glad I didn't). Fruit flies were the name of the game - breeding, taking stats, coming in during nights and weekends to deal with them.

Crazy stories...

When I took Genetics, we did the experiment with fruit flies also. We also had to write a couple of lab reports on the experiments we did. There was only one professor for it, and it was known very well for the lab reports and the exams in lecture.

You kinda had to be a science person to catch on to things quickly in that class when I took it.

 

[joetrisman]

I do not envy any of you that had to do the fruit fly breeding. They did it for years at my school, but recently abandoned it as too many students lost their batches to problems. So we had to write the report with data provided from a hypothetical outcome. Very very very boring lab. Didn't learn a thing really.

 

[pinksparkly]

You people are scaring me. I am registered for Genetics in the fall, without it being possible for me to drop (had to have the prof sign me in because I am a nonmajor). Fruit flies gross me out.

 

[b1234]

Ya, we called it "Fly Nap" and some days I can still smell it, haha. My TA actually dared me to sniff a concentrated amount of it, I did, and well lets say it was like the time my lab partner mistakened chloroform for water. 🙂

Your TA should have gotten in trouble for that - not only is it totally unprofessional, it's also dangerous.

It was probably diethyl ether - more commonly just called ether.


Undergrad for me we did the fruit fly breeding experiment in gen bio. Genetics is a lecture only class (I didn't take it).

 

[vasoolraja]

Ever take it? I'm signed up for it this fall, but I really don't want to be in it. I hate labs, and I hate wasting time which is what labs seem to do more than anything. I could think of a better way to spend my Wednesday afternoons.

It's a senior level biology. I've got a lot of bio background. Anyway, if I drop the lab I'll move from being enrolled in 12 semester hours (full-time) to 11 hours (part-time). Physics I with lab and organic I with lab are the other courses on my agenda.


If you were going to take genetics would you take the lab?

So is it possible to take genetics lecture and lab in different semesters? That makes me wonder if it is possible to take biology lectures online in one semester and then take the lab in the next semester.

 

[ArkansasRanger]

So is it possible to take genetics lecture and lab in different semesters? That makes me wonder if it is possible to take biology lectures online in one semester and then take the lab in the next semester.

Theoretically, yes. However, where I'm going you'd have to wait another year because genetics is a fall semester only course.

I'm just glad cell biology has no lab. 😀