Project Title: Applicability of CAPMM-Developed Technologies to Canine Comparative Oncology Studies
BASIS Advisor: Carrie May
Internship Location: George Mason Center for Proteomics and Molecular Medicine
Onsite Mentor: Dr. Lance Liotta
By far the most common lab animals are rats and mice. However, they are not good cancer models because they do not develop cancers naturally. Dogs do. How do we responsibly analyze canine tissues, as well as apply the results to humans? What techniques are commonly used, and could those developed by George Mason University’s Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine (CAPMM) improve the cost-effectiveness, validity, or scope of results? This spring, I will assist with cell culture and immunohistochemistry in the CAPMM laboratory, gaining first-hand experience with CAPMM techniques. I will theorize how these techniques, which have only been used on humans, can be applied to canine tissue, blood, saliva, urine, or other bodily secretions. In order to answer my questions, I will first conduct a literature review of tissue analysis technology. I will compare it to CAPMM’s techniques and conclude on the most promising potential applications of CAPMM technology to canine tissue analysis, whether from detecting uncommon proteins to being faster or cheaper. I believe CAPMM technology will exhibit an edge in its specialty: detecting molecules, called biomarkers, whose presence hints at the best way to approach cancer treatment. Given 600,000 people are predicted to die of cancer this year, and that 92% of cancer studies fail to move from animals (overwhelmingly rodents) to humans, the research has the potential to substantially inform future studies.
My Posts
Week Four – MisCELLaneous Tasks
Mar 31, 2023
Hola. This week, I largely did more of the usual (passaging cells and reading articles for my senior project). Unfortunately, one of the cell types did not survive again. I passed them correctly, but something must have happened to cause them to die prematurely. So tricky! Despite that mishap, I did have fun helping Purva […]
Week Three – Silver Stain, Reading
Mar 24, 2023
¡Hola! After a week-long absence, I have returned! GMU had its spring break, so I only went in twice last week. In that time, I attempted to passage the cells but forgot to take off the supernatant, or the trypsin-media mixture left after the cell-trypsin-media mixture is centrifuged (to remove the cells). So only one […]
Week One – Passage of the Cancer Cells
Mar 10, 2023
My friend Daria frequently complains to me about traffic and her 40-minute (sometimes longer) commute to school. I sympathized, but until I took this internship, I did not truly understand nor appreciate her struggle. My internship, located in Manassas, is 40 minutes away from my house. On Monday I missed the exit back, made another […]
Excited to Assist in Cell Culturing! Introductory Post
Mar 03, 2023
Hello. My name is Raleigh White, and, as stated in my senior project abstract, I will conduct a literature review on current techniques used for canine tissue analysis and the potential applicability of techniques developed by my internship location (George Mason University’s Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine, or CAPMM) to that. However, while […]