The Project
How can we learn about macromolecules through the production and analyisis of cheese?
Part OneThe first part of the project was designed to test four different methods of cheese production in order to find the most efficient one. |
Part TwoThe second portion of the project was to test another variable of our choosing that had to do with cheese production. We did incubation temperature. |
Part Three
The final part of the cheese lab was devoted to analyzing the composition of the cheese. We first did positive and negative controls for four macro-molecules, then tested the cheese for the presence of them
Macromolecules
Macromolecules are molecules that are necessary for our cells, but ones which our body cannot produce.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates provide the energy that is necessary for cells to function. They come in two main types of forms: Monosacharides and Polysacharides. Monosacharides are simple sugars that come in the form of (CH*2O)*n. They typically have 3-5, carbons, but can have up to 7. A prominent Monosacharide is Glucose (C*6H*12O*6), which is the principle source of energy for the cell. Small amounts of joined Monosacharides form Oligosacharides, but when many hundreds and thousands of sugar molecules are joined, they form Polysacharides. Examples of Polysacharides include Starch and Glycogen, which store energy, and Cellulose, which forms the plant cell wall. Polysacharides also provides markers on the surface of the cell to aide in cell recognition and signaling processes.
Lipids
Lipids have three major roles in the cell. They store energy, create cell membranes, and are involved with cell signaling through steroid and hormone messengers. Lipids are composed of fatty acids, which are hydrocarbon (H-C) chains. Saturated fatty acids are found when all carbons are bound to their maximum amount of hydrogen. Unsaturated fatty acids are found when there is at least one C=C bond. (See diagram below). Triglycerides are 3 fatty acids attached to a glycerol, and are the most efficient way of storing energy. Phospholipids are 2 fatty acids bound to a glycerol with a phosphate group. These make up much of the cell membrane. The head of the phospholipid is polar (hydrophillic), and the tail is non-polar (hydrophobic) (see diagram below).
Nucleic Acids
A There are two types of Nucleic acids: DNA and RNA. Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) is the genetic material of our cells. Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) performs many functions, such as a being a template for protein synthesis and the transport of proteins. Both acids are polymers of nucleotides. They, in turn, are formed of Purine (Adenine and Guanine) and Pyrimidine (Cytosine and Thymine (Uracil instead of Thymine in RNA)) bases. When connected to sugars, they form nucleosides. When synthesized, they form polynucleotides (Diagrammed below).
Proteins
The purpose of proteins is to carry out tasks assigned to them. There are many types of proteins, each with a different function. These functions include serving as structural components, transporting molecules, carrying information between cells, and others. They act as enzymes. Proteins are made of 20 amino acids joined in peptide bonds. In groups, they are referred to as polypeptides. The sequence determines the protein.
Reflection
This project was unlike other projects that we have done this year. This provided for some interesting successes and failures. On the positive side, our group excelled at communication. This was shown in the way we communicated large amounts of data to each other, both through combined notes and online spreadsheets and documents. By doing this, not only did we save a large amount of time, we also gained more in depth knowledge of the subject by being able to study it more. The second way in which I feel this project was a success was in our smooth execution of our plans. This is probably related to the practice that we have had, but the relative ease in which we did our procedure was surprising.
There were, however, areas for improvement. One of these areas was our lack of imagination during the formation of our procedure. We went with simple and easy solutions to some problems that could have had a better answer. For instance, in part 3 of the lab, we simply put the cheese slivers into the vials, until we observed that we could melt the cheese down for more exact measurement and application. A second area for improvement was the involvement of everyone in the group. There were several instances where a portion of the group was not actively involved with the project.
There were, however, areas for improvement. One of these areas was our lack of imagination during the formation of our procedure. We went with simple and easy solutions to some problems that could have had a better answer. For instance, in part 3 of the lab, we simply put the cheese slivers into the vials, until we observed that we could melt the cheese down for more exact measurement and application. A second area for improvement was the involvement of everyone in the group. There were several instances where a portion of the group was not actively involved with the project.