Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi Medical-stuff,

Yes, most genes code for proteins. The question is, what is the function of each protein? Are those proteins involved in the cell cycle, in chemical communication (hormones), or perhaps in the digestive functions of the organs you studied (liver and pancreas)?

Heather

Hi heather!!!
I need help writing my purpose and abstract. I am not finding a lot if things to help write my purpose.
So far for my purpose:
The purpose of this project is to see if the pancreas and the liver will have the same genes that are over expressed when cancer develops. My reasoning for this was that I hypothesized that since both organs have similar functions in digestion, that they will have genes that had similar over expressed genes.

Also *************************VERY IMPORTANT*************************
CAN I HAVE A LITTLE INFORMATION ABOUT YOU SO THAT I CAN ADD YOU TO MY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS? please? tell me you name and other stuff. (better if you tell me the necessary components that I need to include for the acknowledgement)

I NEED YOU TO REPLY TO THIS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE LAST DAY YOU CAN TELL ME THIS INFORMATION IS MARCH 19,2013!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THANK YOU

YOU COULD ALSO TELL ME WHAT TYPE OF PROFESSOR YOU ARE AT WHICH COLLEGE.(VERY HELPFUL)

Hi Medical-stuff,

Medical-stuff wrote:I need help writing my purpose and abstract. I am not finding a lot if things to help write my purpose.
So far for my purpose:
The purpose of this project is to see if the pancreas and the liver will have the same genes that are over expressed when cancer develops. My reasoning for this was that I hypothesized that since both organs have similar functions in digestion, that they will have genes that had similar over expressed genes.

This is a good start. Maybe you could say something like this:

The purpose of this project was to examine gene expression associated with pancreas and liver cancer. I hypothesized that the pancreas and liver would have similar overexpression of genes with cancer because both organs have similar functions in digestion.

I appreciate you wanting to put me in the acknowledgements. I am happy for you to acknowledge me as Heather Liwanag from Science Buddies. I am an Assistant Professor of Biology at Adelphi University.

Good luck with your presentation!

Heather

Hi heather, one last question that I really am not sure of:

1)when genes are over expressed in cancer, they are cancer cells.right?
2)when genes are under expressed in cancer, they are normal cells. Right?
3)when genes are over expressed in a normal body, they are normal cells. Right?
4)when genes are under expressed in a normal body, then what are they?

Also what is the exact definition of an over expressed gene and an under expressed gene?

Hi Medical-stuff,

The column identifies whether the cells are normal or cancerous. Some genes are expressed more in cancer cells, whereas other genes are "down-regulated," or expressed less in cancer cells. Everything is relative to a normal cell. So, to answer your questions...

Medical-stuff wrote:1)when genes are over expressed in cancer, they are cancer cells.right?

Yes, they are cancer cells because there is cancer present. In this case, the gene is expressed more than in normal cells.

Medical-stuff wrote:2)when genes are under expressed in cancer, they are normal cells. Right?

No. When genes are under-expressed in cancer, it means that the cell normally expresses that gene a lot more, but when cancer is present the gene gets turned off.

Medical-stuff wrote:3)when genes are over expressed in a normal body, they are normal cells. Right?

Yes, when genes are over-expressed in a normal cell, the cell is still normal. This is the other point of view for the situation described in question #2.

Medical-stuff wrote:4)when genes are under expressed in a normal body, then what are they?

They are normal cells. It just means that the gene is up-regulated (expressed more) when there is cancer. This is the other point of view for the situation in question #1.

To recap, the cells are labeled normal or cancerous based on whether cancer is present. Then, you compared gene expression. A gene that is over-expressed in cancer (under-expressed in normal cells) might be a gene that gets "turned on" when cells become cancerous, or might play a part in causing the cells to become cancerous. A gene that is under-expressed in cancer (over-expressed in normal cells) could be a gene that gets "turned off" when cells become cancerous.

I hope that clarifies things.

Heather

Ok I understand this now but also what is the true meaning of "expression"?

Essentially, it's a way to describe how much protein is being made from that gene. More expression means more protein is being made. Less expression means less (or no) protein is being made.

A gene that is under expressed in cancer(over expressed in normal cells) will not take part in creating cancerous cells.

correct???

Expression- how much protein the gene is making. If it saying that the gene is over expressed then that means more proteins are being made. If it says that the gene is under expressed then that means less to no proteins are being made.


You will first try to see if the cell is cancerous or not depending on the cancer. After you complete that step, you will then compare the gene expressions.
A gene that is over expressed in cancer (under expressed in normal cells) means that it is a gene that will take part in making cells cancerous. A gene that is under expressed in cancer(over expressed in normal cells) will not take part in creating cancerous cells.

1)When genes are over expressed in cancer, they are cancer cells meaning cancer is present.
2)When genes are under expressed in cancer, it still expresses a gene a lot but will not be in use when cancer is present. It will "turn off."
3)When genes are over expressed in a normal body, it is a normal cell.
4)When genes are under expressed in a normal body, it is a normal cell that is expressed more when cancer is present.


i just typed this, is it correct?????????????????????????????????????/

Hi Medical-stuff,

Sorry for the delay. I hope my response is not too late.

Medical-stuff wrote:A gene that is over expressed in cancer (under expressed in normal cells) means that it is a gene that will take part in making cells cancerous. A gene that is under expressed in cancer(over expressed in normal cells) will not take part in creating cancerous cells.

This is partially true. A gene that is over-expressed in cancer may play a role in making the cells cancerous. You can't tell whether the over-expression caused the cancer, or the cancer caused the gene to over-express. (That's why it helps to look at the function of the gene.) It is also possible that "turning off" a gene could cause cancer. For example, there are proteins involved in apoptosis (programmed cell death) that are expressed when the cell does not have the room or resources to keep growing and reproducing. Turning off those proteins could allow cancer to develop, since cancer cells continue to grow where they shouldn't.

Medical-stuff wrote:1)When genes are over expressed in cancer, they are cancer cells meaning cancer is present.
2)When genes are under expressed in cancer, it still expresses a gene a lot but will not be in use when cancer is present. It will "turn off."
3)When genes are over expressed in a normal body, it is a normal cell.
4)When genes are under expressed in a normal body, it is a normal cell that is expressed more when cancer is present.

I think you may be confusing "genes" and "cells" here (at least in your wording). Let's combine your statements:

1) When genes are over-expressed in cancer (under-expressed in normal cells), the gene products are produced more in cancer cells compared to normal cells.
2) When genes are under-expressed in cancer (over-expressed in normal cells), the gene products are produced less (or not at all) compared to normal cells.

The above statements combine your four statements into one. Does that help alleviate your confusion?

Heather

Hello Heather, may I receive your email addess?

isn't it online?

Hi medical-stuff,

It is against Science Buddies policy to post personal information, including e-mail addresses, on the forums. But if you do a little research online, you can find the information you need.

Best,
Heather

yah... i found it. thanks:)

i emailed you!!!

guess what?????????????? I GOT THIRD PLACE AT THE MIDDLE SCHOOL DIVISION(COUNTY) and now i'm going to broadcast masters. so I have a little-no LOTS- of work to do. also, i have a question?

Congratulations! That is wonderful news! I would be happy to help you get ready for the next step.

do you want me to change it little a little? like test more genes(definetly)? and work on the functions of the genes because we only have till the begining of june then i have to had finisshed and submitted it.

I think your first step is to look at the functions of the genes you did test. Have you made any progress with that?

Heather

Yah....that's the hard part I'm having difficulties with that. I try to look up the genes and only two have information about the gene. Please help.

Hi Medical-stuff,

What information do you have about the genes? A great resource for anything regarding molecular biology is PubMed: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/

Try looking up information about your genes in PubMed. You may have to be creative with your search.

Let me know what information you do have, and we'll go from there.

Heather

Medical-stuff wrote:heather when do u want me to start the gene research?

As soon as possible! This site might be helpful for your research: http://www.genecards.org/

Heather

Ummm this reply right about mine's...is it important to my project heather? Like does any of that information need go be added to mine's?

Hi Medical-stuff,

The information I provided about oncogenes vs. tumor suppressor genes does apply to your experiment, and may help you understand why some genes are over-expressed in cancer (oncogenes), and others are under-expressed in cancer (tumor suppressor genes).

Heather

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!okay, well now I am making a check list:
Research paper=I need to add more info about what you just told me.
I MAY need to add another few steps to my procedure, I DEFINETLY WILL TEST MORE GENES THEN WHAT I HAD!
I NEED TO ADD FUNCTIONS PF GENES TO ANALYSIS
I NEED TO CHANGE ABSTRACT
I NEED TO CHANGE CONCLUSION..
Also,heather, will email you the actual research paper and stuff(documents) because it is easier to just attach the file. (it takes more time on my computer to attach it to science buddies.) everything else we shall discuss here on this thread.

hi heather, long time no see!
okay, so i'm going to start re-doing my science fair project Wednesday because this is the last week of school and we have exams Monday, Tuesday, and wednesday. wednesday is the last day of school so starting that day, i will work day and night to finish. the science fair project that re-do online is due on June 17. I will make sure a re-assure everything with you before I turn it in permanently.
I think I should improve the following things:
my research paper needs more information...any ideas? i know you told me about one thing that i should add..also i need to be aware of grammatical mistakes because i noticed when i was re-reading my research paper that i had some mistakes in there.
hypothesis: I think I should make it a little more detailed and review my variables.
materials: i think that's fine because I only have one material: the computer'
procedure: I need to add more steps near the end. I never mentioned in my instructions to repeat the steps with different genes
abstract&purpose: I thinkkkk that's okay...you can see it if you want, I did not show it to you because i did it seperatly at a later time...like the day or two before county science fair
data: YESSSS I REALLY NEED TO MAKE MY DATA BETTER!!!!!!! also, i'm planning on testing 100 genes instead of the 20 that I tested so that it is more likely to be valid. do you agree? or should i test more genes than that? what's a good number?
results: I need help finding info about the genes information..any good websites?
conclusion: i think my conclusion was fine, but of course, i am changing and improving my project so i think that i'll end up changing a few things in it

Hi Medical-stuff,

Glad to hear you are continuing with your project!

I have not seen your research paper, but Science Buddies does a great job with outlining the organization and content: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... aper.shtml

More genes is great, as long as you have the time to really investigate them. Getting a better understanding of the function of your 20 genes is more important than just adding genes for the sake of adding them. That said, adding more genes may also allow you to find ones for which you can determine the function.

This is really not my area of expertise, so I will remind you of the two websites I gave you for looking up potential gene functions: PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/) and Gene Cards (http://www.genecards.org/).

Good luck!

Heather

okay, I'm going to start re-typing my research paper and I'll send it to you. I'll add what you told me about that thing...ehhh..it starts with an "o" but I'll find it on the latest posts. you can tell me if there's anything you may want to add. I really think my research paper needs to be really strong because it is the base of my whole project. without understanding those basic tings, then you can't really understand anything else so it doesn't matter to me if I have to make it longer, I don't mind. I just need to make it long enough that so that it is well, advanced, and completely thorough.

are you still teaching now in the summer?

wait what was the thing called from that other person who added to our thread of that thing you wanted me to add? it starts with "o" i think....

okay, so went through the whole online registration packet and they don't want my research paper but I DO NEED HELP on other things so can you reply to this s soon as possible?