Great question. The absolute number of total flies observed in the smallest dose vial (~10) was significantly smaller than the ~50 in a standard vial. This could potentially explain some of the variance when the vials are compared directly in terms of percentages. We are curious if these results would be the same if the experiment were repeated. I expect they would not.
Thanks for the question, Nivedha. Although it is not listed as an active ingredient, our sample vial of wormwood also contains ethanol and I am very curious as to its potential role in the synergistic effect we observed.
When you are trying to make the cells more susceptible to radiation, how do you target specific cancer cells such as the ones in the chemotherapeutics without impacting the healthy cells?
Hi Heidi, I think the best way to think about it may be that the radiation can be focused and specifically targeted but the potential chemotherapeutics are systemic but can affect cancer cells differently, such as the radiosensitizers making the cancer cells which receive the radiation treatment more susceptible to cell death than when exposed to radiation alone.
Hi Beckett, great question. I don’t think. our results provide sufficient evidence to support a conclusion that DHA is healthier for a human than traditional chemotherapies. However, both DHA and wormwood warrant additional research based on our experiments. Our methodologies don’t cleanly scale to assessing broader scale impacts to health in a human body, but it would be interesting to see what further research on these compounds shows.
Hi Kelly, we were very interested in these compounds because they have previously shown potential as chemotherapuetics, specifically DHA, in the literature and we wanted to investigate this further.
Good Job Kevin! How could the smallest does of DHA have caused a lower % survival than higher doses of DHA?
Great question. The absolute number of total flies observed in the smallest dose vial (~10) was significantly smaller than the ~50 in a standard vial. This could potentially explain some of the variance when the vials are compared directly in terms of percentages. We are curious if these results would be the same if the experiment were repeated. I expect they would not.
What do you think causes the synergistic effect between the radiation and DHA?
Thanks for the question, Nivedha. Although it is not listed as an active ingredient, our sample vial of wormwood also contains ethanol and I am very curious as to its potential role in the synergistic effect we observed.
When you are trying to make the cells more susceptible to radiation, how do you target specific cancer cells such as the ones in the chemotherapeutics without impacting the healthy cells?
Hi Heidi, I think the best way to think about it may be that the radiation can be focused and specifically targeted but the potential chemotherapeutics are systemic but can affect cancer cells differently, such as the radiosensitizers making the cancer cells which receive the radiation treatment more susceptible to cell death than when exposed to radiation alone.
So do you think that using DHA rather normal chemotherapy drugs would be healthier for the human body?
Hi Beckett, great question. I don’t think. our results provide sufficient evidence to support a conclusion that DHA is healthier for a human than traditional chemotherapies. However, both DHA and wormwood warrant additional research based on our experiments. Our methodologies don’t cleanly scale to assessing broader scale impacts to health in a human body, but it would be interesting to see what further research on these compounds shows.
Why did you choose DHA and wormwood to work with?
Hi Kelly, we were very interested in these compounds because they have previously shown potential as chemotherapuetics, specifically DHA, in the literature and we wanted to investigate this further.