Truong Pham

This study, which leads to a senior project and was carried out with one of the K-12 teachers, attempts to optimize an electroporation pulse for the injection of dna altered material into cells. Most cells have a lipid layer which prevents the insertion of foreign material into the nucleus. This layer can be dilated with electric pulse. (The precise mechanism is unknown.) The effects of various pulse were determined by inserting Ampicillin-resistant dna into a ``safe'' e-coli cell. If successful, the e-coli would then not be killed when placed in a Ampicillin injected medium.