I decided to focus my BIOL 463 Final Project on asthma and the possibility of epigenetic mechanisms regulating it. I initially started the project thinking that i would look at the methylation/acetylation profile of the entire genome and any histone modifications that may arise; Now, the project looks at exclusively DNA methylation. It’s a good example of really focussing on one aspect rather than making things really general.
Archives: Final Project
BIOL 463 Final Project – Final Draft
This is my final draft for the project. I definitely have a better idea of what I’m writing, I think. Actually, probably not. I apologize in advance if you are confused and you don’t understand my project write-up.
BIOL 463 Final Project – 1st draft
BIOL 463 Final Project 1st draft – Anik
Click the link to see the first draft I wrote for this project. I have a marginally better idea as to what I’m writing as opposed to when I was writing the outline.
BIOL 463 Final project outline
BIOL 463 – Final project outline – Anik Muhuri
This is my initial project outline, when I had no idea what I was writing.
Final Project question for feedback
When we were asked to do the first homework assignment for BIOL 463, I talked about focusing on dystrophin as a project topic. My second question was about Asthma. After thinking about it more, Asthma and all the research associated with it has really captured my attention. Asthma is gradually becoming a major issue in North America, and despite all the work done on it, we can’t really say that there has been much of an advancement in terms of solving this chronic disease.
As there is so many different variables to asthma, it’s better to focus on a certain aspect of it. So my research question would be this:
Q. The increased incidence of asthma in North America over the last decade has been hypothesized to be a result of increased epigenetically-derived changes being passed down. What epigenetic changes are responsible for higher incidence of asthma? Can certain epigenetic markers be associated with someone being at higher risk for asthma incidence?
Please let me know if the question is too broad or if you find any other issues with it. I’m always looking for feedback.
Cheers!
HW 1: If I was a developmental biologist/geneticist…
This assignment is a very interesting and made me think about what problems I would be interested in solving. It got my mind working…to the point where I was dreaming about the questions whilst sleeping. You know something has really gotten to your core if you are dreaming about it. So here are some of the questions that really pique my interest and maybe your interest as well. Maybe one day we can collaborate and solve these problems once and for all.
- The dystrophin (DMD) gene codes for a cytoplasmic protein which forms a complex with other proteins to help attach the muscle fiber cell membrane to the extracellular matrix (ECM). Defects in these interactions to form complexes or deficiencies in expression for these muscle proteins can result in various forms of muscle dystrophy. It would be interesting to determine whether these genes share common cis-regulatory elements. It’s possible that a transcription factor or a group of transcription factors regulate this gene set by interacting with the same regulatory element. It’s also possible that these proteins share the same functional domain that allows them to interact with one another to form a complex. It would be interesting to elucidate further upon this mechanism.
2. Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that has increased in incidence significantly in the last few decades. It’s been hypothesized that the increased rate of asthma is due to increased epigenetically-derived changes being passed down to future generations. It would be really interesting to determine what sorts of epigenetic changes could be responsible for higher risk of asthma. Personally, I would find it interesting if some epigenetic markers could be directly attributed to a someone becoming asthmatic.
I really find the muscular dystrophy problem interesting as it is a condition that has huge adverse impacts on a person’s life. I have had the chance to volunteer with events that deal with Duchene’s Muscular Dystrophy and seeing firsthand what muscular dystrophy can do makes me really want to solve the problem.
If I was lucky enough to determine that a transcription factor or a group of transcription factors is responsible for directing dystrophin and other proteins to form complexes, it would be huge in the field of developmental genetics just as another example that highlights how much regulation is required in development to get to where we are as adults. The question I posed is one small step, which if solved, can lead to further developments; it may lead to a flurry of research from different labs . Maybe one day it can lead to actually being able to prevent muscular dystrophy (dare to dream), which would be an amazing feat. If this feat is possible, I’m sure it would make a big impact to the community, especially to people who may be affected by muscular dystrophy or knows someone who has been affected by this condition. There is a possibility that we can help people from going through this limiting genetic condition and possibly improve their quality of life, which is a great reward.
So this is my first stab at developing some questions that I would like to investigate. I look forward to the day that I can either solve this issue entirely or make some significant contribution to this issue with my research work.