Hi Bryton! While I am not particularly familiar with other types of radiation, we wanted to look at UV radiation because of its direct mutagenic effects as well as it being more commonly available.
Hi Hanna! Yes, though it might a be a while out in terms of timeline, using trials to demonstrate the effectiveness in these phage would be a really interesting path. Personally, looking at the effectiveness of infection rate or protein production could be vital to making sure that they continue to function.
Thank you for your question Riccardo! Other sources of mutations would also be a fascinating area of study, and one that I would be open to. The availability of UV radiation is what made it appealing for us, but other sources could also give differing results.
That is a great question Kyle! While bisulfite treatment would most likely just reveal to us features of the genome, UV radiation could come with risk. Phage are known to produce enzymes and proteins that can be toxic to humans, and as with any change in the genome, it would be necessary to pay attention to these possible effects in the case of clinical use.
Thank you for asking, Cole! UV-induced mutations could reveal the functions of certain unknown areas of the genome, as they would cease to work or would work differently in the case of mutations. We would want to isolate our phage from each other before this would be done, as we not only currently have two different phage, but two phage of different suspected clusters.
are there any other type of radiation you would like to use? why UV radiation?
Hi Bryton! While I am not particularly familiar with other types of radiation, we wanted to look at UV radiation because of its direct mutagenic effects as well as it being more commonly available.
Are there any experiments you would like to run with your phage in the long-term to evaluate its effectiveness?
Hi Hanna! Yes, though it might a be a while out in terms of timeline, using trials to demonstrate the effectiveness in these phage would be a really interesting path. Personally, looking at the effectiveness of infection rate or protein production could be vital to making sure that they continue to function.
How did you specify on causing mutations using UV light, would there be other sources of causing mutations that you would consider?
Thank you for your question Riccardo! Other sources of mutations would also be a fascinating area of study, and one that I would be open to. The availability of UV radiation is what made it appealing for us, but other sources could also give differing results.
Could there be any negative responses that might come from research using UV light and bisulfate treatment?
That is a great question Kyle! While bisulfite treatment would most likely just reveal to us features of the genome, UV radiation could come with risk. Phage are known to produce enzymes and proteins that can be toxic to humans, and as with any change in the genome, it would be necessary to pay attention to these possible effects in the case of clinical use.
What is the choice behind utilizing UV light in future experiments? Would you want to isolate your phage cluster before doing this as well?
Thank you for asking, Cole! UV-induced mutations could reveal the functions of certain unknown areas of the genome, as they would cease to work or would work differently in the case of mutations. We would want to isolate our phage from each other before this would be done, as we not only currently have two different phage, but two phage of different suspected clusters.