Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Well, im testing if the consumption of alcohol or/and nicotine affects how chromosomes match. If i can, I will be working in the Moorse Cancer Center at UCSD. My teacher will try to hook me up with a scientist who is will to work with me and my project. If any expert knows anything about how i can fulfill this project please let me know so i can do further research!

Sounds like a very interesting project. I don't have any advice at this early stage, but please keep us posted as you develop more specific plans.

Chris

I guess you will do these experiments in vitro, which means you will not take a living animal but just living cells and culture them in flasks or petri dishes. You will probably need primary cells. That are cells, which are isolated freshly from an animal. Another possibility would be a cell line but cell lines are often already mutated, which makes it difficult to see the effect of your test agents. The researchers form the cancer institute will probably help you with choosing the right cells. If you are working with cell culture you have to work sterile, which means you have to work at a sterile work bench. You could prepare yourself by googling sterile work techniques.
Then I would try to find out how high usually the alcohol and nicotine concentrations in the blood are to know how much you have to add to your cells. Then you also have to decide how to detect if your chromosomes match. To get more background in chromosome matching and division you should read something about "mitosis" and the different kinds of cancer mutations (there are a lot of different ones, one of them is resulting in a wrong distribution of chromosomes to the dividing cells).
I hope this helped you a little bit.
Sounds very interesting though, especially the nicotine experiment.

Thanks for your help!!!

megalein wrote:I guess you will do these experiments in vitro, which means you will not take a living animal but just living cells and culture them in flasks or petri dishes. You will probably need primary cells. That are cells, which are isolated freshly from an animal. Another possibility would be a cell line but cell lines are often already mutated, which makes it difficult to see the effect of your test agents. The researchers form the cancer institute will probably help you with choosing the right cells. If you are working with cell culture you have to work sterile, which means you have to work at a sterile work bench. You could prepare yourself by googling sterile work techniques.
Then I would try to find out how high usually the alcohol and nicotine concentrations in the blood are to know how much you have to add to your cells. Then you also have to decide how to detect if your chromosomes match. To get more background in chromosome matching and division you should read something about "mitosis" and the different kinds of cancer mutations (there are a lot of different ones, one of them is resulting in a wrong distribution of chromosomes to the dividing cells).
I hope this helped you a little bit.
Sounds very interesting though, especially the nicotine experiment.