Summer Research Program for Science Teachers
NYC Lab School, Manhattan
2000
I chose this activity because it illustrates
the idea of antibody and antibody specificity, a topic which I am
studying this summer in my lab. I have designed this lab
using two labs acquired through former colleagues.
The Egg Mishap:
anti-chicken albumin (out of date is cheaper
and still acceptable)
2% agar plates
toothpicks
marking pen
plastic pipettes
test tubes
diluted samples (any dilution is
acceptable): water, egg white, egg-free pasta, no egg mayo,
sugar, salt, custard, molasses, non-egg cake, tuna (all samples
diluted with 0.85% saline- solid use only supernatant)
[Teaching Standard D- Make accessible science materials]
Scenario:
Joe is irate. He just returned from
the hospital after nearly dying from an allergic reaction. He
is not allergic to anything except eggs and responsibly eats out
only at the local egg-free restaurant, called No-Eggs. Last
Sunday, he woke up, at noon, skipped lunch, went shopping all day
and met a friend at No-Eggs for dinner. There, he ate a
tuna sandwich, side of macaroni salad, and a baked dessert with
custard and molasses. All are supposedly egg-free. Four
hours later, he had difficulty breathing and went to the ER with
a severe allergic reaction.
Joe wants to sue No-Eggs, but in order to
prove that there must have been eggs in the food he ate, he
orders the same meal and decides to test the food for the
presence of eggs.
In groups of 2 or 3, think of ways Joe can
test for the presence of egg. What food contained the egg?
What sort of materials do you think he will need? What are
the positive and negative controls for his experiment? (the
teacher should set out the materials and ask the students to
design their own experiment, sharing results with one another).
With prepared plates, cut out six grooves
with the toothpick around the periphery and one groove in the
center. Load the antibody into the grooves. The
students should load chosen samples including controls (water,
egg). Store the plates at room temperature overnight.
The next day, the students should observe the results and see
clumping.
Suggested
follow up:
Discussion of antibody-antigen specificity
Blood antibody-antigen lab
Project on a disease and how it affects the
immune system.
References:
Available: http://www.gene.com/ae/AE/AEC/AEF/1995/grupe_identity.html,
November, 1997.
[Teaching Standard D- Make accessible science media]