Medical testing: enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) test for presence of antigen or antibody

EXPERIMENTAL PROTOCOL

In this laboratory, you will test seven different patients usinga direct ELISA. We have access to serum samples from the maincharacters of the TV show The Big Bang Theory. You will test eachof them for the presence of ZIKA virus and HIV, as well as performa pregnancy test, using known antigens/antibodies for thosediseases/test. Students will work in pairs. Serum for eachcharacter of the Big Bang Theory has been incubated overnight at4°C in the wells of an ELISA plate. You are taking it fromhere.

1.) What basic principles of antibody-mediated immunity areutilized in an ELISA assay?

2.) What might have caused some positive results to be lighterin color than others?

3.) Why can some viruses not be targeted by antibodies fordestruction? Is this a limitation for developing an ELISA-basedprotocol for detecting the disease?

4.) Postulate a hypothesis on how the characters infected withZika contracted the disease (in time and space); consider that twoof them live in the same apartment and the others visit themfrequently.

SYMBIOTS LAB different from above ^

1. If you give a high temperature and high light treatment toSymbiodinium linchaea and Symbiodinium minutum, what results do youexpect after 3 weeks of treatment?