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Hi,
What is the practicality of entering a non-experimental research project in a science fair? I want to explore the role of protein structure and function in neuropsychiatric conditions, but it is too late to submit forms and conduct an experimental project. I can use Internet databases and articles to do non experimental research, but I'm not sure if I would want to submit it to a science fair. If I did submit it, how far could it possibly get?
Thank you.
Non-experimental Research?
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Re: Non-experimental Research?
Welcome to Scibuddies. I can try to help you with your question, which is a very reasonable one. Many scientific papers have been published based solely on databases and software available online. So, you do not need to have a lab to do experimental research. But you do need access to certain online databases and software in order to test a hypothesis.
You said you were interested in the role of protein structure in neuropsych disorders. This is a major area of research and much has been published in the area of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's, schizophrenia, depression and epilepsy. I would try to narrow down your interests to one specific area and focus on certain aspects of the known mechanisms of the disease.
For example, depression seems to be linked to serotonin levels as serotonin reuptake inhibitors are prescribed for treating depression. So, you might ask the question do people suffering depression have some alteration in protein structure of their serotonin, or its receptor, or any other proteins associated with serotonin synthesis and activity. I don't know the answer to this, but I believe every disease has some genetic components that influence how likely a person is to get a certain type of disease--like cardiovascular, diabetes or Alzheimer's.
Now, asking the questions is easy but finding the necessary data to answer them is not. Fortunately, there are free databases available to researchers online. The National Center for Biotechnology Information [NCBI, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/home/about/] was established to provide databases and software for organizing, cataloguing and studying the information on DNA mutations, protein structure changes and disease. It is not the easiest platform to use, and it is limited in what you can do with it, but it is the one place that scientists go when they want to search for information about the genetics of a particular disease.
I would suggest choosing a neuropsych disorder that interests you, then doing a lot of reading about the proteins and genes thought to be involved in the pathology and finally, coming up with some questions about how the proteins involved might predispose an individual to the disease if they were altered by gene mutations. Then you can try to come up with a testable hypothesis.
I'm sure you will have lots more questions about this type of research, but it is one way to actually pose a hypothesis and test it using only online-available sources. The problem is finding the sources that you need.
Sybee
You said you were interested in the role of protein structure in neuropsych disorders. This is a major area of research and much has been published in the area of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's, schizophrenia, depression and epilepsy. I would try to narrow down your interests to one specific area and focus on certain aspects of the known mechanisms of the disease.
For example, depression seems to be linked to serotonin levels as serotonin reuptake inhibitors are prescribed for treating depression. So, you might ask the question do people suffering depression have some alteration in protein structure of their serotonin, or its receptor, or any other proteins associated with serotonin synthesis and activity. I don't know the answer to this, but I believe every disease has some genetic components that influence how likely a person is to get a certain type of disease--like cardiovascular, diabetes or Alzheimer's.
Now, asking the questions is easy but finding the necessary data to answer them is not. Fortunately, there are free databases available to researchers online. The National Center for Biotechnology Information [NCBI, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/home/about/] was established to provide databases and software for organizing, cataloguing and studying the information on DNA mutations, protein structure changes and disease. It is not the easiest platform to use, and it is limited in what you can do with it, but it is the one place that scientists go when they want to search for information about the genetics of a particular disease.
I would suggest choosing a neuropsych disorder that interests you, then doing a lot of reading about the proteins and genes thought to be involved in the pathology and finally, coming up with some questions about how the proteins involved might predispose an individual to the disease if they were altered by gene mutations. Then you can try to come up with a testable hypothesis.
I'm sure you will have lots more questions about this type of research, but it is one way to actually pose a hypothesis and test it using only online-available sources. The problem is finding the sources that you need.
Sybee