Actvity Summary: Students will be able to understand how microbiologists use fluorescent probes to analyze RNA to identify bacteria that live beneath the seafloor.

This lesson has students build a model analogous to Fluorescence In-Situ Hybridization (FISH), which microbiologists can use to identify microorganisms. This model simplifies a biochemical technique to show how the molecules (specifically the ribosomal RNA) of organisms living below the seafloor can be used to assess their evolutionary relationships to other organisms found in the deep ocean. Students need to understand the structure of nucleic acids and the use of biotechnology before completing this lesson; it may also be helpful for them to be familiar with protein synthesis.

This lesson has been revised and updated based on Tagging a Microbe.