Biotech Day
Biotech Day
Friday, January 26, 2024 8:30am-2pm
Biotech Day is an annual event run by the Biological Sciences faculty at KU Edwards Campus (KUEC), consisting of the Applied Biological Sciences and Biotechnology Programs. The event includes games, speakers, and the opportunity to participate in a Flash Science Puzzle. Attendees will also hear presentations from current KU students, network with KU students and faculty, and have the chance to sign up as volunteers to work in the laboratory with KU science students.
Biotechnology faculty host a monthly SciFlix event, open to the public. You’re invited to enjoy a feature film followed by a panel of experts discussing the science, theories and ethics brought about in the story.
The KU FLASH Science Puzzle Project
The Flash Science Fair is being replaced with a Science engaging late high school and early college students with a problem to be worked out and submitted online in advance of Biotech Day. Submissions will be judged by the KU Edwards Campus science faculty for accuracy and clear communication of the answer. Awards will be given to the first correct submission by a high school student and the first correct submission by a College Freshman/Sophomore (as modified by penalties for the incompleteness of the answer). Winners’ names will be engraved on the Flash Science Fair plaque located in the Regents Center laboratory hallway.
Other Biotech Resources
Science Puzzle Materials
BTEC Capstone Projects
Educators
Cinthia Moncada
Can Ginseng Help Fight Breast Cancer?
Breast cancer is a global health concern. In the United States, breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women. Although treatments exist, many are associated with harmful side effects, resulting in a persisting need for novel, less toxic treatments. One such prospect is ginseng, which literature suggests has anticancer properties and may upregulate the tumor suppressor protein, p53. This protein regulates the expression of other genes, some of which arrest cell cycle. Specifically, p53 induces p21, which is a cyclin/CDK inhibitor without which, cells cannot progress through the cell cycle. My research seeks to assess the anticancer effects of ginseng on the MCF-7 breast cancer cell. Several questions will be explored, including what concentration of ginseng can be used on MCF-7 cells without toxicity, whether/how ginseng influences the expression of p53 and p21, and if cell cycle arrest occurs following treatment with ginseng. Cytotoxicity will be determined by an MTT assay, while RT-PCR will be used to determine mRNA production to examine the regulation of p53 and p21 genes. Lastly, flow cytometry will be used to determine if and when cell cycle arrest results from ginseng treatment. Altogether, this research explores whether ginseng may be an adjunctive or alternative treatment for breast cancer.
Sponsors
