Just to clarify, if a lane has more bands than another, does that suggest it is able to repair DNA damage better than the other lane? Or does this not make a difference?
Hi Angie! Lanes should only have one band; this just lets you know that the cDNA of the gene’s protein was present. The brightness of the band tells you how much cDNA (and therefore protein) was produced. All the experiment tells you is whether gene expression increases after DNA damage or not; we would not be able to conclude how efficient our gene is at repairing DNA damage.
Excellent video and poster! What do you think the future of DDR would be for your gene? What further research would need to be done to explore RFC1s exact role in DDR?
Hi Benjamin! We would probably have to perform some sort of experiment that stains the protein produced by RFC1, then examine how it interacts with DNA when it is damaged. The position and movement of RFC1 would give insight into its specific role in the DDR pathway.
Hi Sydney! We weren’t actually able to select a host organism, but Tetrahymena was picked by our instructors because it purposefully damages and repairs its own DNA during replication and mating, making it perfect for studying DDR.
curesymposium.org 
Just to clarify, if a lane has more bands than another, does that suggest it is able to repair DNA damage better than the other lane? Or does this not make a difference?
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Hi Angie! Lanes should only have one band; this just lets you know that the cDNA of the gene’s protein was present. The brightness of the band tells you how much cDNA (and therefore protein) was produced. All the experiment tells you is whether gene expression increases after DNA damage or not; we would not be able to conclude how efficient our gene is at repairing DNA damage.
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Excellent video and poster! What do you think the future of DDR would be for your gene? What further research would need to be done to explore RFC1s exact role in DDR?
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Hi Benjamin! We would probably have to perform some sort of experiment that stains the protein produced by RFC1, then examine how it interacts with DNA when it is damaged. The position and movement of RFC1 would give insight into its specific role in the DDR pathway.
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You mentioned that the DDR pathway is a natural defense mechanism that contains many genes. How did you choose RFC1 as your gene to investigate?
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Hi Lili! Our gene was actually assigned to us randomly by our lab instructors at the beginning of the semester.
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Excellent presentation! How did you determine the host organism to evaluate the RFC1 gene?
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Hi Sydney! We weren’t actually able to select a host organism, but Tetrahymena was picked by our instructors because it purposefully damages and repairs its own DNA during replication and mating, making it perfect for studying DDR.
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