CANCER GENOME ANATOMY PROJECT

[Medical-stuff]

I'M GOING TO SEND YOU A PICTURE OF WHAT THE RUBRIC SAYS IS REQUIRED FOR THE PROJECT. aLSO i WILL SEND MY GRAPHS AND i WILL EXPLAIN WHAT THEY MEAN, BUT i KNOW FOR A FACT THAT I HAVE DONE THE GRAPHS WRONG BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO DO THAT PART.

[Medical-stuff]

Pictures:

[Medical-stuff]

ok so I have now sent you all of my work

[heatherL]

Hi Medical-stuff,

I did a quick read through your paper. You wrote the question, "What two organs will have similar genes when overexpressed in cancer?" I don't think that is what you are asking, since you only compared two organs. Instead, I think you are asking, "Will two organs of similar function have similar gene expression associated with cancer?"

Although it is very interesting, I do not understand why you included information about blood cells in your research paper. This would be relevant information if you did your project on leukemia (blood cancer), but you did not. I think it is best for you to focus on information about cancer in general, how certain genes can be linked to cancer, and finally the liver and pancreas.

Keep in mind that length alone is not important for your research paper. What is important is that your research paper provides the relevant background information for your project.

One important thing you should do (if you are able to, with your limited time left) is try to understand the function of at least some of the genes that are overexpressed in both liver and pancreas cancer. I know I suggested this earlier, and it will help you to interpret your data.

Does the table in your paper represent all of your data? It looks like you are only showing the genes which are overexpressed in liver and/or pancreas cancer. I think they have more overexpressed genes in common compared to the genes overexpressed in only one organ or the other. That is the kind of information that will help answer your original research question. In other words, answer these questions (with numbers): 1) How many genes are overexpressed in liver cancer? 2) How many genes are overexpressed in pancreatic cancer? 3) How many genes are overexpressed in both cancers? If the answer to #3 is more than half as big as #1 or #2, then the two cancers have similar gene overexpression.

I hope this helps. I am not on my computer all the time, so you will have to do your best on your own if I am not able to provide you more feedback before Monday. It looks like you are on your way, and I wish you the best with your project. Please let me know how it goes.

Heather

[Medical-stuff]

Ok so I did do the part where you told me to find the functions of the genes and at theist they told me that for example:
ATGTGAAGAG. (over expressed in pancreas and liver) is secreted protein acid;cysteine rich

That's the type of info they tell me about the genes.

How many genes do you want me to test?
(I only tested 20)

Also the answer to your question #3 :
The genes I tested found that there was LESS genes that were similar for over expression in both cancers
In my case:
Pancreatic cancer : 18 genes over expressed. 2 under expressed
Liver cancer: 12 genes over expressed 8 under expressed
Similarities (both liver and pancreas): 10 genes over expressed. 10 under expressed

Do you see my problem?

[Medical-stuff]

They have less genes that are over expressed in both.
So what I'm saying is that when u said that there should be more genes in common rather than overexpressed in only one organ or the other I got the complete opposite.
More genes were over expressed in one organ or the other rather than in both but I also think that my graphs aren't that clear. Can you help me?

I think they have more overexpressed genes in common compared to the genes overexpressed in only one organ or the other. That is the kind of information that will help answer your original research question.

[heatherL]

Hi Medical-stuff,

Sorry but I was not able to log onto the forum until this morning.

I did find your graphs confusing, and I think I know why. Your initial pie charts showing overexpressed vs. normally expressed genes in each organ are fine. When you are looking for overlap, you should only look at the overexpressed genes. For example, the liver had 12 overexpressed genes and the pancreas had 18. Out of those, 10 of the genes were in common. That means more than half of the overexpressed genes you found were shared (10/12 in the liver, 10/18 in the pancreas). So it looks like your hypothesis is supported by the data. You could try doing a Venn diagram (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venn_diagram) for the overexpressed genes only.

Your results may have been more striking if you had been able to look at more than 20 genes, but I still think you found something interesting to discuss.

You can beef up your conclusions by seeing whether any of the shared overexpressed genes are related to digestive functions (sending substances to the duodenum).

I hope this helps. Please let me know how everything turns out!

Best,
Heather

[Medical-stuff]

Hi any last minute pice of advice?
I need help on graPhs!!!what type should I do then???
Today I'd last day my science teacher said I'm presenting tommorow!!!
Please help!!!

[heatherL]

Hi Medical-stuff,

For your graphs, you can keep the pie graphs for the individual organ gene expression, and do a Venn diagram to show the overlap for the overexpressed genes.

I think your hypothesis was supported (at least with the genes you examined), but to really take it home I recommend looking up the functions of the overexpressed genes that the two organs had in common.

Best of luck with your presentation. Please let me know how it goes!

Heather

[Medical-stuff]

Ok I'll do that right now
I can do that!
Thanks!!

[Medical-stuff]

ok i did the venn diagram
i have 15 min left to work on it because im at lunch!!!!!!!!!!!!!
help me with the genes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i cant find any info on them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[heatherL]

Hi Medical-stuff,

It is probably too late at this point, so hopefully your presentation went well with the information you had. I think you ended up with a successful project, and hopefully you learned something in the process!

Best wishes,
Heather

[Medical-stuff]

Hi ok so I'm last to present and luckily she told me I'm presenting tomorrow!!!so do I need an abstract?
And I'm also about to look at the genes functions for the similar ones.

[heatherL]

Hi Medical-stuff,

If you are doing a presentation board, it's often good to have an abstract. It's not usually a requirement, so your teacher is the best one to ask about that.

Let me know if you find out anything interesting about the gene functions.

I hope it all goes well!

Best,
Heather

[Medical-stuff]

The genes that were similar mainly were PROTEIN MAKERS. Is that right?