If you're just getting started with the Engineer-it Kit™, welcome! This kit gives you everything you need to grow bacteria, prepare them to take in DNA by making them 'chemically competent', and successfully transform them with the DNA—just like a real lab scientist. And the best part? No prior experience needed.

So, what exactly will you be doing? With the Engineer-it Kit, you’ll learn how to:

• Prepare LB agar petri dishes—aka “homes” for bacteria
• Incubate and grow lab-safe bacteria
• Make the bacteria “competent” (able to take up DNA)
• Insert a DNA plasmid into the cells—giving them a brand-new trait (like making a pigment!)

After following the steps in your Engineer-it Kit, you’ll end up with agar plates showing little dots of bacteria called colonies. Each colony starts from a single engineered bacterium that has taken in your plasmid and multiplied into millions of identical cells. That’s genetic engineering in action! 🌟

How Well Did Your Experiment Work? Count the Colonies!

The number of colonies you get is a fun way to see how successful your transformation was—and to track your progress as you level up your lab skills. Here's how to interpret your results:

Zero Colonies? No Worries—This Happens to Everyone!

Even professional scientists sometimes get no growth. Try again using these tips:

• Use blank cells grown for ~16 hours (not more than 24!)
• Check for cloudy solution when making competent cells—if it’s clear, collect more cells.
• No clumps allowed! If you see them, mix vigorously.
• Keep it cold—especially your transformation buffer and samples.

1–5 Colonies: You Did It!

Success! You’ve officially engineered cells. 🎉 To help the trait (like color pigment) fully develop:

• Incubate for 48–72 hours.
• After 48 hours, you can move them to room temperature to help enhance pigment expression and make the colors really pop!

6–20 Colonies: You're Getting Good!

Nice work—clearly, this isn’t your first transformation! You might be experimenting already, like:

• Using cells grown for just 14 hours
• Adjusting the transformation timing
• Trying different plasmid sizes
  This is where real bioengineering creativity kicks in!

20+ Colonies: Pro-Level Technique Unlocked!

You’ve got skills! 🔬 Have you explored:

• Using different plasmids?
• Testing transformation efficiency with larger vs. smaller plasmids?
• Tracking how changes in timing or temperature affect results?

You're ready to push your biotech knowledge even further. Head to this blog post to see what's next