Talk:CH391L/S14/Ashley's First assignment

Overall Format and structure: The structure of the article is well done, say for a few revisions I mention below in the following sections. Since the article does talk about a lot of different concepts, perhaps a longer introductory paragraph should be written to briefly mention all the concepts explained so that the reader has more of holistic view of the topic to start off with.

Introduction and background material: The introduction is written much like an essay rather then an encyclopedia entry. I believe Selectable markers (and Screening markers) ought to be defined and explained first before going over the history and why they are important. The author does mention positive selection, however does not mention negative selection nor duel selection, which comes up later in the article. The author does a good job at explaining the concept in layman’s terms in this section, which is good for an introduction paragraph.

Methods and main body/concepts: I would restructure the section on ampR slightly, as it jumps from talking about the gene to talking about the anti-biotic. While beta-lactam antibiotics are directly related to the function of the ampR gene, there needs to be a transition, maybe a sentence or two, that explains the relation before explaining what beta-lactam antibiotics are. The author does a good job, once again, in putting the subject in terms that are easily understood. The section on auxotrophic marker selection is very well worded and structured. The section on the future, is a good way to end the main concepts before getting into iGEM material.

Relation to iGEM and future directions: Linking the studies done on bacteria to eukaryotic cells (and human cells) is a good start to the future section. Perhaps more specific references to projects to show how things have been progressing and where that progression seems to be point may strengthen this section. The iGEM section is very well done, and references methods previously talked about in the paper done in a different lab. Perhaps more figures would enhance this section and give the reader a better picture of what the project accomplished.

Figures, Figure legends, and citations: The author does a great job at explaining all the concepts in a simple manner, however the addition of more figures may aid the reader in visualizing the mechanisms talked about in the paper. Perhaps a figure that contrasts positive selection to negative selection to duel selection to screening at the beginning of the article will help the reader get a more holistic view of what the article is explaining. There is the occasional paragraph that does not have any citations, which ought to be fixed, and there are a few paragraphs that only have one citation. Having multiple paragraphs with only one citation may be suspicious, as it could seem as though the article is just paraphrasing the work of someone else.