Answer Go Boom

A) I will be using versions of Staph cultured from the skin, assuming that I do use Staph and not E. coli. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but only methicillin and vancomycin-resistant Staph aureus are considered to be BSL2 level. Now, applying statistics shows that because MRSA and VRSA are still relatively rare, there will be not many parts of the Staph culture that are resistant, however, there will be some. Needless to say, I'll play it safe and be careful. B) By "no exterior or biologic contaminants", I mean there's no dirt or non-bacterial matter in the culturing.

Yes, I certainly agree with that. Must not be very pleasant. I perfer methods of bacteriology which will not interfere with my ability to walk. The cultures high-end labs use is purified anyway. No exterior or biological contaminants.

I almost thought it might be because of its abundance. Considering the bug lives in the G.I. tracts of mammals, well...uh, there's no shortage of it.

Wow, guys, thanks, you've given me a lot to chew on. Which would be easier to modify, Staph aureus or E. coli?

Wow, thanks. And where would I go about getting them? Cost? Are they common enough to just Google?

I'm a highschool student, and was wanting to do an advanced-level bacteriology project pretty similar to the one AP Bio students work where E. coli is genetically modified to be ampicillin resistant using the enzyme EcoRI. My twist on it was that I would like to do an experiment implimenting the gene for bioluminescence (taken from a species of firefly) into either Staphyloccus aureus or E. coli. The reason why I picked these bacteria strains is because of availability (they exist very commonly). As far as materials, I have two campus laboratories I can use and may be able to use the local college biolabs. I can also arrange to get blood agar plates for culturing from the local hospital lab, so those are not an issue. But considering I've never performed anything of this caliber, I need to know a few things. A) How readily available is the enzymes (would I need them?), and the gene for bioluminescence? B) How much of the experiment could be performed in vitro? C) How much culturing would be necessary? D) How would removing and implementing the gene be done, in a nutshell?