Content:
The goal of this project, we had to isolate any problem that we saw in the world today, and figure out how to solve it using a biotechnology related solution. However, for the beginning of the project, we couldn't choose just one, rather, we had to find six different problems, the past solutions that have been tested and their effects, and identify what we could do. The next step in our project was to identify our top three problems and develop three different solutions for the most important or relevant problem. Our group chose to find a solution to animal testing, and the inefficiencies that currently exist and the ethical questions that are raised from subjecting animals to volatile and harmful chemicals. Our top three potential solutions were to increase the number of federal regulations protecting animals from being tested upon, genetically engineering these animals to represent more accurate disease models, and finally, generate organoids from human stem cells to represent actual human organs. Out of all these solutions, we selected organoids as our final solution, because of their potential to increase the relevance of testing results, and it prevents most animals from being subjected to harm. The next step of our plan was to further investigate our solution, and contact a mentor for elaboration on our topic. The second part of stage 3 was to fully complete our proposal, and develop a sort of procedure to create them. The next step, stage 4, was an extension of the third stage, and it required us to make efficacy tests to prove how our product would work in the real world, but for organoids, it was a bit difficult since we don't have the tools to generate them at school. Stage 5 required us to compile a detailed procedure on how to culture our organoids and grow them in a lab environment, somewhat similar to stage 5. The last two stages were extremely similar, almost identical, to each other, and we had to create a presentation containing logistics, statistics, and information about our problem and solution.
The goal of this project, we had to isolate any problem that we saw in the world today, and figure out how to solve it using a biotechnology related solution. However, for the beginning of the project, we couldn't choose just one, rather, we had to find six different problems, the past solutions that have been tested and their effects, and identify what we could do. The next step in our project was to identify our top three problems and develop three different solutions for the most important or relevant problem. Our group chose to find a solution to animal testing, and the inefficiencies that currently exist and the ethical questions that are raised from subjecting animals to volatile and harmful chemicals. Our top three potential solutions were to increase the number of federal regulations protecting animals from being tested upon, genetically engineering these animals to represent more accurate disease models, and finally, generate organoids from human stem cells to represent actual human organs. Out of all these solutions, we selected organoids as our final solution, because of their potential to increase the relevance of testing results, and it prevents most animals from being subjected to harm. The next step of our plan was to further investigate our solution, and contact a mentor for elaboration on our topic. The second part of stage 3 was to fully complete our proposal, and develop a sort of procedure to create them. The next step, stage 4, was an extension of the third stage, and it required us to make efficacy tests to prove how our product would work in the real world, but for organoids, it was a bit difficult since we don't have the tools to generate them at school. Stage 5 required us to compile a detailed procedure on how to culture our organoids and grow them in a lab environment, somewhat similar to stage 5. The last two stages were extremely similar, almost identical, to each other, and we had to create a presentation containing logistics, statistics, and information about our problem and solution.
Concepts:
Stem Cells: Cells that have the potential to differentiate into another, specific type of cell
IPSCs: Induced pluripotent stem cells, which are somatic cells changed into pseudo-stem cells
Organoids: An artificially grown mass of cells or tissue that resembles an organ
Biotechnology: The manipulation of living organisms or their components to produce commercial products
Growth Factors: Molecules that stimulate cell and tissue function through influencing cell differentiation
Reflection:
This project was probably one of my favorite assignments to get done this entire year. This can primarily be attributed to the fact that we had a clear sense of direction given to us by Ms. Mathews, which wasn't a feature of many of our other projects, especially the cladogram project that we did previously. Working with Dean and Diamon was one of the easiest things I had to do all year, and with this project being our last one, it really gave me some time to think and reflect on how much has changed in the past year or so, especially the way I've worked with my group mates. One peak of this project was the efficiency with which we got each of the stages done. By the time the class had to turn in the sheets for stage 4, the three of us were starting to work on stage 6, which was what made part of this project so easy. A second peak of this project was the direction that we had. Compared to the last project, we knew what we had to do, when we had to do it, and how we would go about getting those things done, which made it that much simpler and quicker to accomplish our goals. One pit, though, was the fact that we may have had too much time on our hands. Normally, this seems like a good thing, but in our case, that basically meant we spent more time distracted. A second pit, although minor, was that I spent a significant portion of time working with Hunter's group and helping them get small ideas and edits for their presentation. Although it was a good thing to do, it detracted a little bit from the time that I could have been working with my group mates. Two things I learned throughout the course of this project are that people are willing to help you out if you ask them, and also that asking questions is often the best way to get answers or ideas for things you never may have conceptualized. Two skills that I picked up in this project were the ability to go through and analyze scientific literature for a variety of information, and also how to write a structured, professional email to a colleague or a mentor.
Stem Cells: Cells that have the potential to differentiate into another, specific type of cell
IPSCs: Induced pluripotent stem cells, which are somatic cells changed into pseudo-stem cells
Organoids: An artificially grown mass of cells or tissue that resembles an organ
Biotechnology: The manipulation of living organisms or their components to produce commercial products
Growth Factors: Molecules that stimulate cell and tissue function through influencing cell differentiation
Reflection:
This project was probably one of my favorite assignments to get done this entire year. This can primarily be attributed to the fact that we had a clear sense of direction given to us by Ms. Mathews, which wasn't a feature of many of our other projects, especially the cladogram project that we did previously. Working with Dean and Diamon was one of the easiest things I had to do all year, and with this project being our last one, it really gave me some time to think and reflect on how much has changed in the past year or so, especially the way I've worked with my group mates. One peak of this project was the efficiency with which we got each of the stages done. By the time the class had to turn in the sheets for stage 4, the three of us were starting to work on stage 6, which was what made part of this project so easy. A second peak of this project was the direction that we had. Compared to the last project, we knew what we had to do, when we had to do it, and how we would go about getting those things done, which made it that much simpler and quicker to accomplish our goals. One pit, though, was the fact that we may have had too much time on our hands. Normally, this seems like a good thing, but in our case, that basically meant we spent more time distracted. A second pit, although minor, was that I spent a significant portion of time working with Hunter's group and helping them get small ideas and edits for their presentation. Although it was a good thing to do, it detracted a little bit from the time that I could have been working with my group mates. Two things I learned throughout the course of this project are that people are willing to help you out if you ask them, and also that asking questions is often the best way to get answers or ideas for things you never may have conceptualized. Two skills that I picked up in this project were the ability to go through and analyze scientific literature for a variety of information, and also how to write a structured, professional email to a colleague or a mentor.