Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello,
I am in 10th grade and I am trying to do the Cancer Genome Anatomy Project for my science fair (Due Nov 23). The two background research questions given by the site were * What does it mean to say a gene is "expressed" in a tissue?* What types of genes would you expect to be over-expressed in cancer tissue? I have done my research and know that for #1, expressed in a tissue would mean that the gene is used and that gene controls the product tissue. For #2, I know that mutated genes are the ones that would be over-expressed. Now, it takes me through the CGAP website where I can compare normal and cancerous genes and at the end of the experimental procedure it mentions,"Can you hypothesize what functions the over-expressed genes might have in cancer cells?" I don't really understand what most of the info in the database means though. I am hypothesizing that if the over-expressed genes are found in tissues, then the genes must be causing the rapid division of cells because cells make up tissues." Yet, I am not sure how to test this hypothesis. I was thinking of asking a dermatologist if I could sit in with him to examine how he tests for malignant and benign tissue, but would that give me the results that I need for this project on the affects of genes? Ideas and opinions would be greatly appreciated and please let me know if I am heading on the right track with this project. (Due on Nov 23) Thank you

This is the link for the project on science buddies

http://www.sciencebuddies.com/science-f ... 2&from=TSW

Hi there,

If you want to answer the question of whether the overexpressed genes control cell division, you would want to look up the genes in a gene database (like GenBank). Watching a dermatologist look for differences between benign and malignant cells will help you understand how we identify cancer at the cellular level, but will not tell you anything about which genes are responsible or the function of those genes.

I think this project is meant to be completed mostly on your computer. I would suggest following the step-by-step instructions first, to familiarize yourself with the project, and then looking at extensions once you feel comfortable with the website.

Hope that helps!
Heather

Thank you Heather. I will try what you said but I am not sure how to find the functions that those genes are having on the cells through the database. Do you know any places where I can research those effects?

This is not my area of expertise, but my understanding is that you can use the BLAST feature in GenBank to identify genes with known functions. You could try entering the sequences of the genes you find on the initial website, and seeing if we know their functions.

Here is an overview about GenBank: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genbank/

Here is a tutorial about how to use BLAST: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Education/b ... orial.html

Hope that helps!

Heather

Thank you so much. I am working on it now and I will do my best to follow the tutorials and see if I can find the results and interpret them. Right now the CGAP site seems to be not functioning but when it does I will take those over expressed genes and experiment with the blast feature. You have been a lot of help for me. Thanks again.

Andrew

Hi Science Buddies,

I'm a senior in high school and I just completed this experiment. I didn't understand all of the details and data of the project, but I got enough of the jist of it to understand some of the charts, the colors of the tissue, etc. After just finishing this project, I moved on to the hypothesis part and I was thinking of trying to test the same thing: if the over-expressed genes are found in the cancerous tissues, then the genes must be causing the rapid division of cells because cells make up tissues. After finding this thread, I tried to get the websites that were suggested (GenBank and BLAST) but the BLAST website did not show up and the GenBank website seemed to be just a summary. How should I test this hypothesis? In the end, I want to write a paper on this experiment and some other information that I looked up on pancreatic cancer. I also found some articles on new technology to treat pancreatic cancer to add onto the essay. What do you think of this idea?

Thanks,

Caitlin

PROJECT IS DUE: APRIL 15TH