Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

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


***I posted this question on another thread a while ago, but I haven't gotten an answer yet and my due date is approaching.

Hi Caitlin1292 --

This is the project you are doing, right: The Cancer Genome Anatomy Project: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p011.shtml

Have you already finished the project? The Experimental Procedure for the project outlines the steps you take to conduct the experiment (which is when you will be testing your hypothesis).

There are projects on the Science Buddies site that use BLAST. But this one isn't one of those. If you do need to access BLAST, however, the url is: http://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi

If you have questions after looking over the steps of the procedure, please post to this same thread again, and an Expert can assist you.

Good luck!

Amy
Science Buddies

Hi Amy,

Yes, that is the project. I finished the whole thing, I was just wondering about number seventeen of the procedure. I have my hypothesis, but am I supposed to test it again or did the project count as a test?

Also, I am supposed to be writing an essay on pancreatic cancer and this experiment. I have researched facts, current articles and new technologies for pancreatic cancer. Should I write an essay summarizing the project or extending number seventeen of the project, my hypothesis. If I was to extend number seventeen, how would I test my hypothesis. I'm kind of confused on how to finalize this experiment into a project, which is essentially my essay.

Thanks so much for the quick response.

Caitlin

Hi Caitlin,

Your project was actually steps 1-16. If you completed those steps, you have everything you need to write up your project. Step 17 is asking you to think about the reasons why some genes are over-expressed in a cancer cell population. You can use your response in your paper, too.

The content of your assay should be discussed with your teacher so you are sure to meat their expectations. I suggest writing the background you searched, along with a note on treatment options. You would also have a section giving basic information about cancer (what it is, how it developes at the cellular and molecular level) and how genes play a role in that. This is all an introduction to your project, which you will also write about.