Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

SciB wrote:
To do an experiment you would load the chitosan nanoparticles (CNPs) with curcumin or cayenne extract (capsaicin?) and add it to cultures of the A427 cells. The controls would be no addition and CNPs alone. There are many ways to measure the effect of drugs on cancer cells but viability is the simplest. You just need an inverted tissue culture microscope and some trypan blue vital stain. I can give you the procedure for this.

Hey SciB,

I've been really busy during the past year working with the Magnetism project. I got all the way to an international science fair in Brazil...

Anyways, I'll now like to continue with this research idea. As you stated in the quote above, can you send me the procedure for it? This past year I took AP Biology, so now I understand a lot of the jargon that this project entails.

Regards,
Alang

Hi Alang and congratulations on your success with the science fair.

The experiments we talked about before are very complex and there isn't one protocol that includes everything. I would suggest that you break it down into sections like:

1. selecting, obtaining and growing the cells
2. preparing the nanoparticles
3. treating the cells
4. choosing proper controls
5. choosing a method for evaluating the results
6. using statistical tests to verify the results
7. repeating the experiments

I can help you with details but I can't create a complete plan for you. Each researcher has to read methods used by others in the scientific literature and then develop an experiment plan based on their hypothesis. When you have done that I'm sure you will have many questions and I can help you answer them.

Good luck and best wishes,

SciB

Hey SciB


Unfortunately, I've been unable to find a lab with the equipment and/or availability to do such an experiment. Thus, will it be possible to experiment on one aspect of this project? I feel like if I have tangible results, then researchers will be more willing to accept me to their labs.

I know it might not be possible to use the cancer cells in a high school setting, but could I possibly load the chitosan nano particles with curcumin or cayenne extract, but add it to a targeted type of bacteria or virus (my school will purchase materials up to $200 dollars for me). Do you think that will be viable or even make sense? I'll appreciate any ideas on how to twist this experiment. My AP Biology teacher (M.D.) works at a local community college, so I could ask him for help, but since he's adjunct I don't think it will be possible to find lab space.


I'm very disappointed I'll not test my idea on the cancer cell line, but I feel like if I have a project with results, then it will be much easier to ask a researcher for a possible continuation with the cell line.