Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi everyone,

I'm pretty new to this, so please bear with me. I became interested in the topic of regeneration when I entered my project, "Effect of pH on Regeneration in Planaria", into the local science fair this year - where I unexpectedly won 3rd place in category. Surprised/Impressed by this success (especially since I was just doing this for extra credit), I read more into various topics for next year's science fair. One of the main difficulties I've come across while doing this is finding a good idea.

I am planning on doing a project about regeneration in planaria (and perhaps potential applications to humans). I've done A LOT of reading on this topic, but I'm still not exactly sure where I should start (or what I should do). I know that I'll be working with the planarian species Schmidtea mediterranea mainly because of its diploid chromosomes and existence in both asexual and sexual strains. That said, I want to do something related to the genome of the planaria, (I'm not sure what) but I am open to other options, such as properties of the blastema (again, not sure what). If you can recommend anything, I will be very thankful.

I am also having a difficult time finding a mentor for this project, so if you can help me out here as well, again, I will be extremely grateful.

Lastly, I am afraid that the topic of regeneration is probably too expansive/complex and may take years of research to conduct (which is, of course, not enough time to prepare for my local science fair), so please recommend some other ideas/topics if you wish.

Thanks!

Hi,

Welcome to Science Buddies! And, congratulations on your 3rd place win from last year. It sounds like you are looking for something a little more advanced this year.

Here are some suggestions to help get you started on developing your topic. The main idea here is to read as much as possible about your topic and develop an idea for an experiment.

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p018.shtml

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p011.shtml

Here’s a scientific article with references that will give you more background information.

http://planaria.neuro.utah.edu/publicat ... _ELS01.pdf

Here information and references about a researcher who investigates developmental biology. Check out some of his references.

http://www.wi.mit.edu/research/summaries/reddien.html

The whole field of regeneration is definitely too broad for one science fair project. You should focus on identifying one problem that you could solve by doing an experiment.

Here is the very excellent guide to doing a science project from the Science Buddies website, and note the information on doing an advanced project in the lower left of the page.

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ndex.shtml

. You have the advantage of time by getting started now. Let us know if you have any questions

Donna Hardy