Cell Cycle and Cancer
I. Purpose
Explore the similarities and differences between the cell cycle of normal cells and cancerous cells
II. Background
The reason of why we are doing this is to find out the similarities and differences between cancer cells and normal cells. And also to further understand why cells get cancer. Also how they get cancer. As well as to see how cells act during the cell cycle if they have cancer. And to see how it affects the human body and how many people get affected by it.
III. Hypothesis
I believe the normal cells and the cancerous cells will look different in the way they are organized. And how they split and that they will also differ in size. Because the cancerous cells will not die and keep on growing to be able to divide.
IV. Materials (Virtual Lab Online)
- Cancerous Ovary Tissue
- Normal Ovary Tissue
- Cancerous Lung Tissue
- Normal Lung Tissue
- Cancerous Stomach Tissue
- Normal Stomach Tissue
- Microscope
V. Procedure
- Click the monitor to watch the video about the cell cycle.
- Now click the information button to learn about cancer.
- Click on the microscope to begin learning about the phases of mitosis.
- Click and drag the label to the corresponding cell under the microscope.
- Open the data table and begin to record the number of cells in each phase of mitosis in the tissue sample. You can use the calculator to determine the percentage of cells dividing and the percentage of cells at rest. When you have counted all the cells in a particular sample, click the "Tissue Slide" and select a new sample. You can chose from normal or cancerous tissue.
- Open the journal to answer some questions about cell division and cancer
VI. Data
The data table below lists the number of cells per area present in various phases of the cell cycle observed in three different types of tissue in both normal and cancerous cells.
VII. Journal Questions
1. In the cancer cells there is normally less cells that are in the interphase stage. There are more cells in the division phase of mitosis.
2. The cancerous cells. Their mitotic ratio would be higher because in the cancerous cells there are more cells in the division stages than their are in the normal cells
3. I think the kidneys would have a higher mitotic ratio. I believe this because the kidneys process things in the body and separates the things that the body does not need so it is in constant contact with waste and things harmful to the body.
2. The cancerous cells. Their mitotic ratio would be higher because in the cancerous cells there are more cells in the division stages than their are in the normal cells
3. I think the kidneys would have a higher mitotic ratio. I believe this because the kidneys process things in the body and separates the things that the body does not need so it is in constant contact with waste and things harmful to the body.
VIII. Conclusion
I believe the normal cells will look different from the cancer cells in that the normal cells will be smaller and the cancer cells will be organized differently. I learned that the cancer cells do not die away and keep on dividing because they grow to big. I observed that in a cancerous tissue there are more cells going through division stages of mitosis. The things in common between the normal cells and the cancerous cells is that still the majority of the cells are in the inter phase stage. The things I could do to improve this experiment are I could test another set of cells from each tissue to see if I get the same or similar results. Some unavoidable errors could be that the environment around the cells affects them or if what the cells have come in contact with affects them.