Writing in Biology

Efforts to halt EMT, induce MET, and initiate apoptosis can be included in phase 2 of treatment. These may be grounded in aptamer-regulated exosomal therapy, where aptamers can serve as binding partners for relevant transcription factors and signaling pathway elements. Binding partners for these aptamers have yet to be determined, however, they should be specific for pancreatic cancer cells. Various treatments can be included inside the exosomes, such as miR200c or other miRNAs in the 200 family, or an apoptosis-inducing molecule such as ONC201. To maximize efficiency of treatment, phases 1 and 2 can overlap slightly so all pancreatic cancer cells throughout the body may be recognized effectively during phase 2. This is especially true for the ever-changing tumor microenvironment and the premetastatic niche, which both still need to be researched more.

The use of cannabis has become widespread, especially among young adults. It was found that the use of cannabis was associated with an increased risk of depression and suicidal ideations within young adults. An active ingredient in cannabis is THC, which affects the brain by binding to the cannabinoid receptors. When THC binds it disrupts various mental and physical functions. A natural neurotransmitter that binds to the cannabinoid receptor is anandamide, which influences pleasure, memory, thinking, concentration, movement, coordination, sensory and time perception. THC acts as an agonist and binds in the cannabinoid receptor.

From the left ventricle, the blood clot flows through the aortic valve into the aortic arch. From the aortic arch, the blood clot flows into the brachiocephalic artery where it splits into the right subclavian artery and right common carotid artery. Following the right subclavian artery, the subclavian artery runs along the first rib laterally until it is under the clavicle. Once the right subclavian artery reaches the clavicle it is known as the axillary artery. The axillary artery continues down to the arm and is known as the brachial artery.

          In this experiment, acid-catalyzed dehydration of cyclohexanol using phosphoric acid was performed in order to synthesize cyclohexene and analyze the product. Following fractional distillation, the product resulted in a 28% yield of cyclohexene. This low yield could have been caused by a combination of transfer loss, insufficiently thorough mixing during the wash, or incomplete removal of impurities. This product was analyzed through a series of tests to detect the presence of alkenes that would be expected in a successful reaction. The two chemical tests confirmed the presence of alkenes by exhibiting the expected color changes. In the bromine dichloromethane test, the vial containing the product remained clear despite the dropwise addition of the brownish-red chemical, indicating that the alkene reacted with bromine to form a colorless dibromide. In contrast, the vial containing cyclohexane briefly turned a reddish-orange color upon the dropwise addition of the chemical, indicating no reaction. In the potassium permanganate test, the vial containing the product turned brown, indicating the purple chemical reacted with the alkenes to produce a colorless diol and a finely-divided brown precipitate of manganese dioxide. In contrast, the dropwise addition of the chemical into the vial of cyclohexane resulted in a purple solution, indicating no reaction. The product was further analyzed by gas chromatography. The resulting GC trace displayed only one peak of 0.299. IR spectroscopy was also used to analyze the sample. The known absorption frequency for an alkenyl is approximately 3083, and the experimental absorption frequency was 3063.09. The known absorption frequency for an alkene is 1644, and the experimental absorption frequency was 1653.07. The experimental values were close enough to the expected values to confirm the presence of cyclohexene.

It is crucial to note that Group 6 did not have a 50 mM NaCl brain to image and therefore could not accurately compare data with the class average for this salt concentration to draw any significant conclusions. However, upon examining the system water and nanopure lines against the 50 mM NaCl and 100 mM NaCl lines throughout the brain for the class, there is no clear trend of the two salt lines with increased cell counts, which does not support the hypothesis. Although the 50 mM NaCl line had higher cell counts than the system water and nanopure in the hypothalamus, the 100 mM NaCl line had similar cell numbers to the two lines without salt. A similar result is seen in the class data of the lateral recess: 100 mM NaCl had slightly higher counts than the system water and nanopure lines, but 50 mM NaCl had lower counts than the two lines without salt. Perhaps this Group 6 100 mM NaCl brain is a true outlier in cell proliferation numbers due to experimental treatment, or perhaps differences may be explained through variation in cell counting and techniques. The members of Group 6 obtained this brain from a separate experimental vial given by a TA and did not dissect it themselves, which may have contributed to the variation in cell numbers seen.

Using spinach leaves, we extracted the chloroplasts and observed the rate of photosynthesis in various concentrations of water.  We created a control group in DI water, and two experimental groups- one in tap water with the other in salt water. The rate of the light-dependent reactions was monitored by comparing the absorbance of light in a spectrophotometer at 600 nanometers. As the DCPIP used in the experiment is reduced, the absorbance of light decreases. Similarly, the first stage of photosynthesis involves extraction of electrons from water by light energy for reduction. Knowing this, if the concentration of water increases within the plant cell, then the rate of the light-dependent reactions should increase as plants require water in the first step of photosynthesis. If our hypothesis is correct, the data would reveal that the chloroplasts exposed to tap water have a significantly lower absorbance over time than the chloroplasts exposed to salt water, where the concentration of H2O is less.

The purpose of this lab was to reduce benzoin with sodium borohydride to 1,2-diphenylethane-1,2-diol and have the product analyzed with TLC. The presence of the product and its purity was verified by finding its melting point and comparing it to the provided melting point range. After the product had been reduced, the mass was found to be 0.49g, only 0.01g less than the starting material, giving it a percent yield of 98% as seen in Table 1. This is a high percent yield, which could be a result of a successful reaction. However, the melting point of the crude product shows otherwise, with a wide melting point range of 124-133°C. Knowing that the melting point of benzoin is around 132°C, it is likely that the resulting product was not successfully converted to 1,2-diphenylethane-1,2-diol, but potentially an unpure benzoin product containing perhaps benzoin and the 1,2-diphenylethane-1,2-diol. To improve this, the sodium borohydride could have been added in more even increments across five minutes and waited longer than 20 minutes for a full reaction.

The modern gene editing tools have the potential to treat diseases with a unique approach. With the use of CRISPR-Cas9 protein complex, specific genes are targeted and the DNA sequence is then modified. Researchers are currently practicing with gene editing in various subjects and performing the techniques in experimental research. On the other hand, scientists are delaying the use of gene editing for safety concerns and increased regulations. For our project, we will be discussing the controversial ethics of gene editing and managing more focused topics about the various applications of gene editing. In addition, surveys will be conducted for each topic to collect the opinions of students at UMass Amherst.

Volunteer plants are plants that grow in addition to planted plants. In potted plants there appears to be a greater diversity of volunteer plants. When multiple plants are potted in soil togther, there appears to only be one continuous volunteer plant throughout the soil. While observing a few different species of trees, we were wondering if there was more growth of these volunteer plants in individually potted plants or plants that are potted together. Does one type of volunteer species grow at a faster rate than others? To study this we could measure the growth of each volunteer species at the end of each week and see which has the largest growth. We could also compare the growth of the volunteer species in individal potted plants to the growth in plants plotted together. 

Birds molt during the warm seasons before the breeding season begins. It usually cost 25% to 40% of the total energy. The new feather production requires large production of proteins so they must eat more than any other season to grow faster. Therefore, molting in the warm season is advantageous because the bird can eat more and molt faster. The American Redstart is a common bird found in North America that is well study for its molting strategy. The male has a bright red orange feathers for the breeding season. They molt right after they care for their young. They migrate so the day to departure the area depends on how fast the male is able to molt into this bright color or not. If the male can leave the young early enough, they succeed to molt in this color, but if they are late, the molting will not be complete. This results the late molting males to have a lower breeding rate than the ones that completed their molting.