ABE Teacher Expectations and Policies
We greatly value our ABE teacher partners and want to ensure our ability to provide a high-quality experience for
all participants. In order to do so, we have outlined the following teacher expectations and program policies. EACH
teacher who participates in the ABE program must submit a signed copy of this form to their technicians
prior to or upon pick-up of their ABE materials.
Teacher Expectations
1. Be familiar with and follow all instructions in the ABE lab manuals, on the ABE website, and from their
technicians, including instructions on safety and proper waste disposal.
2. Be considerate of their technicians’ time, the program’s resources, and other teachers/schools when reserving
the kit and submitting their Materials Request Forms.
3. Communicate problems with the kit to their technicians. This includes noting and also telling their technicians
about any broken equipment.
4. Respect the kit equipment.
5. Return the kit in the condition in which it was given.
6. Stick to the kit schedule.
7. Respond to communications from their technicians and the site director.
8. Provide data needed for grant reporting, as requested by their technicians or the site director.
9. After using the kit, complete the lab results survey and submit it and their lab results to their technicians.
10. Use the kit checklist to ensure all equipment is present when received and before returning to their technicians.
If anything is missing at pick-up, this will be communicated to the technician promptly.
Program Policies
1. New teachers need to be trained at an ABE workshop before they can sign-up for the Amgen kit. Teachers who
havenever attended a workshop but have been using the Amgen kit also need to attend an ABE workshop.
2. When first beginning with the program, teachers will only be allowed to sign-up for labs they have been officially
trained to do.
3. Teachers who do not do all the labs for which they request materials may be restricted in which labs they will be
allowed to sign up for the following year.
4. We reserve the right to charge for broken or missing equipment.
I have read, understand, and agree to abide by these expectations and policies.
Name (printed) ___________________________________ Date __________________
Signature
2/15/2016
___________________________________
ABE-LA Pierce College Distribution Center
Amgen Biotech Experience
Pierce College Materials Request Form
ONE FORM PER TEACHER PLEASE
Name of School Your Phone:
Name of Contact Teacher and Email address:
Reservation/Pick-up Date:
Equipment+Supplies __X_ _
Supplies only____
Visit our websites: www.amgenbiotechexperience.com for errata pages, videos and important tips.
And www.abe-la.org for distribution site information
DATE THAT YOU INTEND TO DO THE TRANSFORMATION LAB:______________
FOR LAB 6: WOULD YOU PREFER
A) to grow your culture
B) to get culture already grown up
C) to get purified MFP only
Select the Pathway your students will be doing and fill in the requested numbers
Complete Genetic Engineering Sequence (Labs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and if you want 6)
Description: This laboratory sequence tells the “complete” biotechnology story from moving a gene of interest into an engineered
expression vector. This sequence involves the digestion of pARA and pKAN-R followed by a ligation lab to produce recombinant
plasmids. This represents the most challenging set of protocols and includes Purifying the Fluorescent Protein (Lab 6) if you choose to
do so.
Number of Students running this sequence
Number of groups running this sequence
Number of teachers teaching this sequence
Lab 6
number of groups
Abridged Genetic Engineering Sequence (Labs 1, 2a, 4a, 5a, and if you want 6)
Description: This sequence omits the pARA/pKAN-R digestion and ligation of restriction fragments, and starts with the rfp gene already
ligated into the expression vector. Students run a plasmid digest and electrophoresis separating pARA-R restriction fragments. This
was written to shorten the labs required to get to protein purification Lab 6 and to increase the likelihood of students succeeding in
producing red transformants. The sequence requires less teacher preparation time.
Number of students running this sequence
Number of groups running this sequence
Number of teachers teaching this sequence
Lab 6
number of groups
Focus on Bacteria Sequence (Labs 1, 5b, and if you want 6)
Description: The focus of this sequence is on the importance of plasmids as vectors for use in genetic engineering and the ability of
bacteria to utilize the plasmid’s genetic information to produce a protein product. It is not only important to produce the protein, it is
equally important that the protein be capable of being collected and purified.
Number of students running this sequence
Number of groups running this sequence
Number of teachers teaching this sequence
Lab 6
number of groups
Introduction to Biotechnology (Lab 1)
Description: The focus of this lab is to enable the students to become proficient in basic biotechnology lab skills. It includes using the
micropipette and running a gel electrophoresis.
Number of students running this lab
Number of groups running this lab
Number of teachers teaching this lab
Genomic DNA Extraction/PCR OR Colony PCR
Description: These labs are independent and are not considered part of the Pathways. If the teacher has attended an Amgen Biotech
Experience workshop which included PCR training, he/she may choose to include these labs with the Pathway sequence selected or to
do these as an independent lab experience.
Number of students running Genomic PCR OR
Number of teachers teaching this sequence
Additional Equipment Needed beyond the Kit:
Number of groups doing Colony PCR
2/15/2016
ABE-LA Pierce College Distribution Center
Amgen Biotech Experience
Instructor Checklist for Pierce College
Contact Information:

Sherry Tsai, Director Amgen Biotech Experience of Los Angeles, ABELA, s.tsai@oak-crest.org
 Karin Steinhauer, ABE-LA Pierce College lab tech, lab: 818-712-2617 or
o cell: 818-219-8663, abe.piercecollege@gmail.com
All Amgen Biotech Experience labs are to be performed using all appropriate safety attire and precautions
required in a California science laboratory classroom. Please refer to your school district’s rules regarding
these.
On the DAY of Kit Pick Up:
*Check to see that you have received all the supplies listed on your supply spreadsheet as soon as you get
back to your school . If you wait until two weeks later, when you start a lab, you will have to drive to Pierce
College again to pick up any missing supplies. Call Karin if you are missing anything or are unsure where to look
for it.
*Be sure to store supplies at the appropriate temperature. The supply spreadsheet is color coded to help you.
*The kit includes a notebook which contains all the lab updates, equipment manuals, helpful tips, and how to
repack the kit. Please refer to this and the websites: www.amgenbiotechexperience.com and www.abe-la.org
for recent lab updates, lab manual errata pages and teacher resources such as videos.
*Please return ALL unused reagents, empty bottles and supplies. If you have a problem I will need those
extra reagents to figure out what went wrong.
*Please save a set of your best transformation plates in the refrigerator for us or take a photo of them.
Please do NOT erase the camera SD card. We go through the images and plates to evaluate our program.
Even if you do not get “good” results, take a picture for us so we can figure out what went wrong.
Before RETURNING the Kit:
*Please repack the equipment in the correct boxes according to the white laminated labels on each box.
*Be sure to rinse the electrophoresis gel boxes, gel trays, gel casting board etc. with distilled water and let
them AIR DRY ONLY before repacking them. Remove any tape you may have put on them. DO NOT try to
wipe them dry with a paper towel or ethanol!
*Be sure to pack all gel combs, thermocycler grids, boiling tube clamps, SD cards, cords, gel casting board,
spatulas, isofreeze units, freezer packs and empty reagent bottles as these items are sometimes forgotten. Do
not pack any bottle of liquid in the kit boxes unless they are tightly capped and within a ziplock bag. Discard
your 1X SB.
*If any pieces of equipment did not work please label them and bring it to Karin’s attention.
*PLEASE REFILL ALL TIP BOXES BEFORE RETURNING THE KIT or you will have to do that when you get to
Pierce.
*Please refer to the Pierce College Waste Protocol for directions on what to do with your lab waste.
*PLEASE FILL OUT THE ONLINE RESULT SURVEY FORM. THIS HELP US TO ENSURE QUALITY RESULTS IN OUR
PROGRAM
2/15/2016
ABE-LA Pierce College Distribution Center
Waste Disposal Protocol
ABE-LA Pierce College Distribution Center
1. Tips and tubes from labs 1-4 and PCR can go into your school trash.
2. Gels containing Gel Red or Gel Green should be thrown directly into your school’s trash.
3. Plates, tubes, tips, kimwipes and cell spreaders from labs 5 and 6 should go in the autoclave bags
supplied by Pierce. Bags should only be 2/3 full and twist tied closed. DO NOT put Styrofoam or
plastic cups into autoclave bags. Throw these away in your school’s trash. If there is a bacterial
spill in your classroom, disinfect the area with 10% bleach and throw the paper towels containing
the bleach into your school trash.
4. If the plasmid/enzyme/buffer reagent tubes have anything left in them, please return those to
Pierce in the ice chest along with our isofreeze unit, thermos, lunch bag, reuseable grocery bags
and all ice packs.
5. Discard any remaining 1X SB down the drain and return the empty 1X SB bottle in the kit.
6. Return all 20X SB bottles in the cardboard box that your supplies were received in.
7. PLEASE DO NOT PUT ANY BOTTLES CONTAINING LIQUIDS INTO THE KIT BOXES! They spill and
corrode the equipment.
8. If you have any questions, just email or call me. Thank you.
Karin Steinhauer, lab: 818-712-2617 or cell: 818-219-8663, abe.piercecollege@gmail.com
2/15/2016
ABE-LA Pierce College Distribution Center
Protein Chromatography Kit Checklist
ABE-LA Pierce College Distribution Center
Kit Box Item/#
4
Columns
12
Column
Stands12
Waste
Beakers12
12 BB
tubes
12 WB
tubes
12 EB
tubes
12 CEB
tubes
13 tip
extensions
13 tip
caps
12 end
caps
12 clips
1 bottle BB,
WB,EB,CEB
12 p1000
Micro
pipettors
Tech Teacher
initials initials
Kit
Box
Item/#
5
Thermocycler
Tube
Clamp 1
Boiling
pot 1
Tech
initials
Teacher
initials
MISC
EXTRAS:
Thermos+
isofreeze
Lab 1.1
supplies
Shaking
incubator
Incubator
p20s-12
p200s12
Photodoc
system
Power
supplies
I agree that I will be financially responsible for any lost or broken equipment as per the
ABE-LA Program policies:
_________________________
_______________________
________
Name
Signature
Date
2/15/2016
ABE-LA Pierce College Distribution Center
Amgen Kit Equipment List
Below is a complete list of the equipment in a full Amgen kit. Teachers looking to become “kit
graduates” by obtaining their own sets of equipment (or even just some of the equipment) are
encouraged to do so, and the Amgen Biotech Experience program would continue to provide all
supplies and additional support needed to continue to implement the ABE curriculum.
Some items below may be optional, or alternatives may be possible. Also, smaller classes may
require fewer quantities. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your distribution
center coordinator.
General Equipment
Micropipettes (13 each of three sizes): P20, P200, P1000
Gel documentation camera with hood set-up
Transilluminator
Powerstrip
Power supplies – 3
Microcentrifuge
Floaters – 4
Vortexer
Rack, multi size – 3
Spatula
Minicentrifuge
Microcentrifuge tube racks – 13
Electrophoresis gel boxes w/ trays and combs – 6
Incubator
Waterbath
Thermometer, digital
Distilled water carboys
Multigel casting board
Scale
Lab guides
Equipment For Protein Purification Only
Protein purification columns w/ stands and binder clips – 12
Mini waste beakers – 12
Shaking Incubator
Equipment For PCR Only
Thermal cycler
Boiling pot
2/15/2016
ABE-LA Pierce College Distribution Center
ABE Equipment/Supplies Replacement Price List
Please be aware of the replacement cost of our equipment and make sure that your students handle
everything with extreme care. Prices shown do not include tax and shipping costs.
EQUIPMENT
Digital camera (Canon S110)
Digital camera hood conversion kit
(Fotodyne)
Digital camera set up (Fotodyne
Apprentice)
Gel box (Fotodyne)
Gel box, OWL (BioExpress)
Gel system, Mini One (Embi Tec)
PRICE
$ 295
$ 347
$ 2088
$ 225
$ 389
$ 379
ACCESSORIES And SUPPLIES PRICE
Agarose (per gram)
$1
Carboy, Water
Casting Tray, Mini One
$ 49
Casting tray, Multi-gel (Fotodyne)
$ 70
Funnel
$1
Gel comb,
Fotodyne
$ 11
Incubator
Gel Tank Box, Mini One
$ 49
Incubator, Shaking
Lab 1 supplies (box, gels, templates,
dye box)
Lab Consumables (for 1 class of 40
students)
Mini PCR adaptor cable for phone
$ 20
Microcentrifuge, 7M Spectrafuge
Mini PCR system
Minifuge Spectrafuge
Power supply (Fotodyne Fotoforce)
Rainin pipet,any size, each
Shaking incubator (Southwest
Science)
Thermocycler (BioRad)
uV transilluminator (Foto Phoresis)
Vortex mixer (Next Day Science)
Waterbath, 6L (BioExpress)
$ 846
$ 500
$ 260
$ 446
$ 175
$ 1895
$ 3800
$ 795
$ 199
$ 724
$ 170
$ 10
PCR chelex tube clamp (Bel Arts)
$ 17
Plastic box for Kit
$ 25
Powerstrip
$7
Protein column (stopcock, column,
caps, resin)
Protein Column stand (each)
$6
Replacement UV filter glass for
transilluminator
Scale Digital pocket
$1
$ 265
$ 20
SD card reader
$6
SD card, 4GB
$6
Sharpie marker (each)
$1
Thermometer, Digital
2/15/2016
Tube rack, Floating
$7
Tube rack, Microfuge
$5
Tube rack, Multi-size
$7
ABE-LA Pierce College Distribution Center