Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My science fair project is about finding a substitute treatment for cancer by using green tea and chemotherapy drugs. However, my mentor was not able to let me use cancer cells and normal cells he only let me use cancer cell. Also we used a protein concentration to find the number of dead cells. How can I explain to the judges that even though I could not use normal cell with cancer cells my project is still a good experiment. Also how can I explain to them that even though I used a protein concentration count instead of a regular cell count the results of the experiment are still valuable.
Thank you.

Gizmogirl wrote:My science fair project is about finding a substitute treatment for cancer by using green tea and chemotherapy drugs. However, my mentor was not able to let me use cancer cells and normal cells he only let me use cancer cell. Also we used a protein concentration to find the number of dead cells. How can I explain to the judges that even though I could not use normal cell with cancer cells my project is still a good experiment. Also how can I explain to them that even though I used a protein concentration count instead of a regular cell count the results of the experiment are still valuable.
Thank you.

What did your mentor say? Obviously, you didn't carry out exactly the experiment you planned, but I imagine your mentor had some explanation for how removing the control would be okay. Similarly, there must be a reason a protein assay was used instead of a cell count.

Why do you think this experiment is valuable despite the changes?

Louise

Louise wrote:

Gizmogirl wrote:My science fair project is about finding a substitute treatment for cancer by using green tea and chemotherapy drugs. However, my mentor was not able to let me use cancer cells and normal cells he only let me use cancer cell. Also we used a protein concentration to find the number of dead cells. How can I explain to the judges that even though I could not use normal cell with cancer cells my project is still a good experiment. Also how can I explain to them that even though I used a protein concentration count instead of a regular cell count the results of the experiment are still valuable.
Thank you.

What did your mentor say? Obviously, you didn't carry out exactly the experiment you planned, but I imagine your mentor had some explanation for how removing the control would be okay. Similarly, there must be a reason a protein assay was used instead of a cell count.

Why do you think this experiment is valuable despite the changes?

Louise

My mentor said that he was not able to obtain any normal cells. He also said that the protein concentration count was just another way to count the cells.
I think this experiment is valuable because at least I know the results of green tea and chemotherapy on cancer cells. I do not know of any other research that has combined Green tea and Chemotherapy so it must be original. However I have done this project for going on three years now so it might look kind of bad to the judges since now I have no control after having it for the last two years.

Gizmogirl wrote:

Louise wrote:

Gizmogirl wrote:My science fair project is about finding a substitute treatment for cancer by using green tea and chemotherapy drugs. However, my mentor was not able to let me use cancer cells and normal cells he only let me use cancer cell. Also we used a protein concentration to find the number of dead cells. How can I explain to the judges that even though I could not use normal cell with cancer cells my project is still a good experiment. Also how can I explain to them that even though I used a protein concentration count instead of a regular cell count the results of the experiment are still valuable.
Thank you.

What did your mentor say? Obviously, you didn't carry out exactly the experiment you planned, but I imagine your mentor had some explanation for how removing the control would be okay. Similarly, there must be a reason a protein assay was used instead of a cell count.

Why do you think this experiment is valuable despite the changes?

Louise

My mentor said that he was not able to obtain any normal cells. He also said that the protein concentration count was just another way to count the cells.
I think this experiment is valuable because at least I know the results of green tea and chemotherapy on cancer cells. I do not know of any other research that has combined Green tea and Chemotherapy so it must be original. However I have done this project for going on three years now so it might look kind of bad to the judges since now I have no control after having it for the last two years.

Okay, so you have answered most of your questions:
1) The protein assay is the same as counting cells, so it should not matter if you did it one way or the other. You should try to find a reference that says this- maybe your mentor can give you one. If they are the same, there is no reason to feel bad about the method.

2) Say that while you recognize that it is important to have a control, you were unable to get normal cells. If they ask, explain how you would have done the control.

3) "I think this experiment is valuable because at least I know the results of green tea and chemotherapy on cancer cells. I do not know of any other research that has combined Green tea and Chemotherapy so it must be original." This is perfect. You can always mention any future experiments- I found combination A the best, and I would like to explore the effect on different types of cancers. I would use this control experiment, etc.

I would talk to your mentor about your concerns. Obviously your mentor thinks this work is valuable, or else he or she wouldn't help you, provide you cells and equipment for 3 years!


Louise

Louise wrote:

Gizmogirl wrote:

Louise wrote:

Gizmogirl wrote:My science fair project is about finding a substitute treatment for cancer by using green tea and chemotherapy drugs. However, my mentor was not able to let me use cancer cells and normal cells he only let me use cancer cell. Also we used a protein concentration to find the number of dead cells. How can I explain to the judges that even though I could not use normal cell with cancer cells my project is still a good experiment. Also how can I explain to them that even though I used a protein concentration count instead of a regular cell count the results of the experiment are still valuable.
Thank you.

What did your mentor say? Obviously, you didn't carry out exactly the experiment you planned, but I imagine your mentor had some explanation for how removing the control would be okay. Similarly, there must be a reason a protein assay was used instead of a cell count.

Why do you think this experiment is valuable despite the changes?

Louise

My mentor said that he was not able to obtain any normal cells. He also said that the protein concentration count was just another way to count the cells.
I think this experiment is valuable because at least I know the results of green tea and chemotherapy on cancer cells. I do not know of any other research that has combined Green tea and Chemotherapy so it must be original. However I have done this project for going on three years now so it might look kind of bad to the judges since now I have no control after having it for the last two years.

Okay, so you have answered most of your questions:
1) The protein assay is the same as counting cells, so it should not matter if you did it one way or the other. You should try to find a reference that says this- maybe your mentor can give you one. If they are the same, there is no reason to feel bad about the method.

2) Say that while you recognize that it is important to have a control, you were unable to get normal cells. If they ask, explain how you would have done the control.

3) "I think this experiment is valuable because at least I know the results of green tea and chemotherapy on cancer cells. I do not know of any other research that has combined Green tea and Chemotherapy so it must be original." This is perfect. You can always mention any future experiments- I found combination A the best, and I would like to explore the effect on different types of cancers. I would use this control experiment, etc.

I would talk to your mentor about your concerns. Obviously your mentor thinks this work is valuable, or else he or she wouldn't help you, provide you cells and equipment for 3 years!


Louise

Your right Louise I geuss even though I do not have an appropriate control my experiment is still valuable. Thank you for your help. Also do you know of any websites that might explain how Green tea interacts with the distrubtion of the VEGF (Vascular endothelial growth factor) during cell communication and angiogenesis.

Gizmogirl wrote: Your right Louise I geuss even though I do not have an appropriate control my experiment is still valuable. Thank you for your help. Also do you know of any websites that might explain how Green tea interacts with the distrubtion of the VEGF (Vascular endothelial growth factor) during cell communication and angiogenesis.

I'm not a biologist, but google for "Green tea interacts with the distribution of the VEGF" turned up 11000 pages! Many of them look like real science papers and might be useful to you. I imagine if you added the key words angiogensis or communication you might find something more useful.

For example-
http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/cgi/c ... /66/5/2500
The abstract is:
"Cell signaling pathways, responsible for maintaining a balance between cell proliferation and death, have emerged as rational targets for the management of cancer. Emerging data amassed from various laboratories around the world suggests that green tea, particularly its major polyphenolic constituent (–)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), possesses remarkable cancer chemopreventive and therapeutic potential against various cancer sites in animal tumor bioassay systems and in some human epidemiologic studies. EGCG has been shown to modulate multiple signal transduction pathways in a fashion that controls the unwanted proliferation of cells, thereby imparting strong cancer chemopreventive as well as therapeutic effects. This review discusses the modulations of important signaling events by EGCG and their implications in cancer management."

Louise