Patient Information
Age of Patient
What is 46 years old?
This small unit of volume measurement is equal to one-millionth of a liter.
What is a microliter?
The BioRad DC/Lowry assay belongs to this broad class of laboratory methods, meaning it uses changes in visible color to measure chemical levels.
What is a colorimetric method?
This fundamental laboratory tool is used by researchers to transfer precise, microscopic volumes of liquid solutions accurately
What is a micropipette (or pipette)?
This term describes a tumor that is non-cancerous, does not invade nearby tissues, and does not spread to other parts of the body.
What is benign?
Maya discovered a lump in her right breast while performing this daily personal care routine.
What is showering?
If you need to measure out exactly 200 microliters of a sample, this is the best choice among your three available pipettes (P20, P200, or P1000).
What is a P200?
This is the mathematical equation used to find the necessary volume of Maya's stock sample needed for our loading mixture.
What is V = M/C?
This term describes the process of using heat or detergents to destroy a protein's precise 3D shape, unfolding it into a linear strand.
What is denaturation?
Maya’s pathology report specifically looks at this type of cell surface receptor, a growth factor protein that can be overexpressed and drive aggressive tumor growth.
What is HER2 (Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2)?
This is Maya's professional occupation.
What is a middle school science teacher?
This term describes how close your measured volumes are to the true targeted value, rather than just how consistent they look next to each other.
What is accuracy?
During Step 1 of the assay, proteins react with alkaline copper ions (Cu2+), causing the copper to gain electrons in this specific type of chemical reaction.
What is reduction?
This molecular biology technique is used to separate a mixture of proteins by their molecular weight using an electric current and an acrylamide gel matrix.
What is gel electrophoresis (or SDS-PAGE)?
When a cell has too many copies of the HER2 gene, leading to a massive overproduction of the receptor protein on the cell surface, the genetic phenomenon is called this.
What is gene amplification?
The last time Maya had a Mammogram.
What is 3 years ago?
To prevent cross-contamination, you must execute this mechanical step every time you switch fluids.
What is ejecting/changing the pipette tip?
To figure out the absolute concentration of Maya's unknown samples, students must plot their data against a standard curve generated using known concentration gradients of this standard reference cow protein.
What is BSA (Bovine Serum Albumin)?
When evaluating Maya's protein bands against the molecular ruler on Day 3, scientists measure the size and molecular weight of the proteins using this specific scientific unit.
What are kiloDaltons (or kDa)?
These specific types of genes normally accelerate cell division, but when mutated, they act like a stuck gas pedal, driving cancer growth.
What are oncogenes? (Proto-oncogenes is also acceptable).
To assess genetic risk, the team noted that Maya's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, and her maternal aunt was diagnosed with this specific type of cancer.
What is ovarian cancer?
Pressing the pipette plunger down to this specific mechanical threshold allows you to fully expand and draw up (aspirate) your target volume.
What is the first stop?
To read the final results of the assay, this light-measuring laboratory instrument is used to quantify the color intensity by beaming light through the samples at a specific wavelength (like 750 nm).
What is a spectrophotometer (or microplate reader)?
Because a gel matrix is fragile and floppy like jello, scientists use electricity to pull sorted proteins out of the gel and trap them onto this tough, paper-thin solid support sheet
What is a membrane (or Nitrocellulose / PVDF membrane)?
While normal cells have a neat, uniform shape and a small control center, cancer cells typically feature a wildly misshapen structure and a heavily enlarged version of this organelle.
What is the nucleus?