Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi,
I have competed in many science fairs, and last year I won first place in Medicine and Health at my county fair. I was wondering if you had any ideas for projects involving DNA sequencing of dogs, cats, or plants. I am also open to any other ideas within the medicine or molecular categories. I am having trouble coming up with ideas this year.
Thank You

Hi Kimmel,

Congratulations on you win in last year's fair! It's great that you are already thinking about starting a new project.

As you know, the hardest part of a new project is thinking of a new, original topic. Since you are interested in sequencing, I suggest going to the "Science Fair Project Ideas," link at the top of this page and search for "sequencing." This will bring up a list of possible project ideas. Look through the ideas and the bibliography until you find something that looks interesting. Then, start reading scientific articles on your topic to learn what has been done in the past and find out what problems still need to be solved. While reading the articles, focus on the introduction section, which explains the rationale for the research idea. This approach will give you a very unique project idea.

You can also do an internet search on your specific areas of interest to find sites that will give you more ideas. For example, here's a site on cat sequencing that looks interesting:

http://www.genome.gov/12514461

Another possibility is to continue last year's project and design a new, original experiment on the same topic.

Please let us know if you have any specific questions as you continue looking for a project idea. Good luck!

Donna Hardy