VIRTUAL MITOSIS LAB

Part 1. VIRTUAL MITOSIS LAB

Based on your data and observations, what are some of the differences between normal cells and cancer cells?

Normal cells have a significantly greater amount of cells at rest vs. cancer cells.  Normal cells majority are in the interphase stage of preparing for nuclear division.

When studying cell division in tissue samples, scientists often calculate a mitotic index, which is the ratio of dividing cells to the total number of cells in the sample. Which type of tissue would have a higher mitotic index, normal tissue or cancerous tissue? Explain.

Cancerous tissue would have a higher mitotic index because they have a higher percentage of cells dividing than normal tissue.

Different types of normal tissues in the human body have different mitotic indices. From the following list, which normal tissues would you expect to have the highest mitotic index: muscle, skin, kidney, or lung? Explain your answer.

I’d expect that skin tissue would have the highest mitotic index because it is the largest organ in the body.

	Interphase	Prophase	Metaphase	Anaphase	Telophase	% of Cells Dividing	% of Cells at Rest
Normal Lung	19	1	0	0	0	0	100
Cancerous Lung	16	0	2	1	1	10	90
Normal Stomach	18	0	1	0	1	10	90
Cancerous Stomach	14	2	1	1	2	20	80
Normal Ovary	18	0	1	2	0	10	90
Cancerous Ovary	11	2	2	2	2	25	75

Part 2. Your Personal Chromosome.

1. Find the number of the chromosome you have been assigned (see list below).
• 19.
2. Visit DNAi and locate your chromosome on the Web site. On the page go to Genome Mining > Tour > Genome Fishing (0n top) > Pick a (your) Chromosome from This Menu.
3. Find four genes on your chromosome that you like by clicking on various symbols in column “Symbol.” Some genes may be more interesting to your than others.
• BSG.  This gene is a protein coding type that is a plasma membrane protein.
• C3.  This gene is also a protein coding type gene that plays a central role in the activation of the complement system. If you are c3 deficient, you are more susceptible to bacterial infection.
• INSR.  This gene is an insulin receptor that stimulates glucose uptake.
• RETN. This gene belongs to the mouse resistin-like family.  
4. Write a complete sentence or two for each describing its action or product. Decipher or explain any words or phrases that do not make sense to you or would be difficult for the average person to understand.
5. Be sure to cite any sources (with MLA) you use for this.
• NCBI Map Viewer. “Homo Sapiens Annotation”. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene?cmd=retrieve&dopt=full_report&list_uids=56729 (Assessed April 8, 2014).
6. Pick one gene (I know this is probably a stretch…) of these four that seems the most interesting to you. In a few sentences, explain why it is interesting to you.
• RETN.  This mouse resistin-like gene is most interesting to me because it may be the hormone that links obesity to type II diabetes.