Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My experiment is testing the effects of resveratrol, a compound found naturally in red wine and other foods like berries and peanuts, on the life span of C. Elegans. My project isn't due until March, but I want to get a head start on it, and probably finish early. I have been researching C. Elegans and resveratrol, but I don't know where to go from there. Also, I am trying to find a place that will fund my research, but I'm not sure how I should go about that.
Also, what process and resources will I need for this project? Any information or materials will be much appreciated! Thanks!

This is my first time doing an experiment with C. Elegans, and I am super excited to see where my research will go!

Also, I am looking for a mentor to help me through my experiment, so please feel free to contact me if you might be interested.

Hi,

Interesting idea! What have you found so far on C. elegans and resveratrol? How did you come up with the idea of testing resveratrol? Knowing this would definitely help me answer you a lot better. I think a good place to start would be looking into what metabolic process reservatrol impacts. This link may serve as inspiration: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23600385. It seems like reservatrol impacts with oxidative stress, so fully understanding the mechanism of oxidative stress would be very helpful to you.

As far as finding a mentor goes, this can be a challenge (I know from personal experience as a student your age!), but don't worry; persistence will pay off! I'd advise you first contact local university labs (assuming your school doesn't have the means to support your research); send professors your resume and kindly make your request. Don't be disheartened if no one responds at first. Keep trying and you'll find something!

Hi there,

There are plenty of resources on the web for culturing C. elegans. Here is one: http://www.wormbook.org/chapters/www_st ... ntain.html

I also found a book on tracking life span, I wonder if you can get it in a library somewhere? http://books.google.com/books?id=wHeT5U ... an&f=false

I've never cultured C. elegans myself, but if nobody else steps forward with experience in this area, I am willing to try to help you through it. You might want to post again with a new subject heading along the lines of "Mentor for C. elegans project". Sometimes once a thread has gotten a response or two people check t less, so if you want to catch the attention of someone with expertise a new posting with a specific request in the title and a link to this thread might be a good idea.

Cheers,
Colin

Thank you both for your quick reply. The links both of you provided me have greatly helped the research portion of my project.

As a response to scibuddyAK about how I got my project idea, my next door neighbor drinks one glass of red wine a day, because she says it is supposed to help her live longer. So, I started researching why red wine is supposed to have that effect, and I discovered that resveratrol is present in red wine, along with many other foods, and is supposed to effect longevity. After further researching resveratrol I decided it would be interesting to test this chemical on C. Elegans, because my older sister has previously done research on C. Elegans, and I have always wanted to do research with these worms.

As a response to SandbaggerOne, thank you so much for the idea of starting a new thread. I will definitely follow up with you if no one else responds.

Thanks again for all of your help!

I am currently looking for a mentor to help me through my science experiment. For this experiment, I am testing the effects of resveratrol, a compound found naturally in red wine and other foods like berries and peanuts, on the life span of C. Elegans. I am very excited to start my research, and am very grateful to anyone who might step forward to assist me throughout this process.

Thanks!

Hi,

I see; it's great that your project idea comes from your everyday life! Very applicable.
Perhaps you could start designing your experiment by thinking about how you want to test resveratrol. Do you want to test by isolating or extracting just this compound (i.e. buying the chemical from a supplier), or testing red wine directly? I'd suggest testing just the compound itself for a more controlled experiment, so maybe you could start by looking into how to obtain resveratrol as well as the effects of resveratrol on oxidative stress, similar metabolisms, etc. to hypothesize how it would affect C. elegans. Another idea could be to determine levels and trials for your project, i.e. how many times you will test and what variations you'd add to your independent variable. (An example of a level would be the amount of resveratrol you expose the worm to - just an idea). Hopefully this post was helpful for you in jump-starting your plan; let me know if I can clarify anything or offer more specific advice. Please post back as you continue your research if you have any questions; happy to help!

All good advice above. Another question, which perhaps you have answered already, is how to measure the life-span of the worms? Are you going to keep individual worms in different dishes?

Cheers,
Colin