Project:

Slugs at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School Campus

Students:

Isabel Lytton, Henry Rauch, Elizabeth Walker

School:

Ethical Culture Fieldston School, The Bronx

Mentors:

Howard Waldman

Abstract:

The goal of collecting slug specimens from around the Fieldston Campus is to determine the biodiversity of slugs in the area. Each of the species that come from different parts of the campus will show the varying habitats on the campus. The DNA of around 20 different slug samples will be collected, amplified, and analyzed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and gel electrophoresis. The DNA of the different samples can be compared using the BLAST search engine, allowing us to determine how many species are present on the campus. The observations taken of the area where the sample was collected will be compared to the species the sample belongs to. In addition, two methods of DNA extraction will be compared. The first method is a silica gel prep and the second method is the Chelex protocol. After both of these steps are completed, PCR will be used to amplify the DNA so that an analysis can be done.

Poster:

Team samples: