ResearchHypothesisAssignmentSeanJordan,Period2

Title
:TheFundamentalTheoremofAlgaebra:Howalgaecanbenefittodayssocietyinmroe
waysthanone

ResearchQuestionandHypothesis
Cantheuseofalgaeforbiofuelsbeaviableoptionintodayssociety?
Canalgaesimportanceinthefoodwebberecognizedbythescientistsoftodayandthe
future?
Couldtheappearanceofapoptosis(PCD)inthealgaestrain
DunaliellaTertiolecta
be
appliedtodiseasedeukaryoticcells?
Algaecanbenefittodayssocietybypossiblyhelpingdiseasedcells,beingasourcefor
biofuels,andholdingthefoodwebtogether.

BackgroundandHistoryoftheIssue
AlgaehavebeenontheEarthmuch,muchlongerthanwehave.Theyareavitalpartto
ourcontinuedexistenceonthisplanet,mostlybecausetheyundergotheprocessof
photosynthesis(whichproducestheirownfood).Theyhelpspreadnutrientstoaquaticorganisms
andthereforehelpholdthefoodchaintogether.Inthepast,scientistshavefoundsomeusesfor
algae.Thisincludesbiofuel,wherealgacellsareusedtoproducelipids,whicharethenburned
forenergy(Janotta,2013).Thisissuehasgrowninpopularityeversinceoilandfoodshortages
havebecomerelevant.Additionally,somethingthathasalsobeenaroundforaverylongtimeis
cancer.Theseabnormalcellsreproduceatarapidratecomparedtonormalcells,andcanbe
terminalinsomecases.
Althoughcancertreatmentshaveevolved,thesetreatmentsarehighlydangerousforboth
thepatientandtheenvironment.Chemotherapy,forexample,isasupplyofdrugsthatattack
cancercellsinthebody,butitalsokillshealthy,innocentcells.Also,disposingofchemotainted
wastesisextremelydangerousandexpensive(cite).Another,evenmoreharmfultreatmentof
cancerisradiationtherapy.Thisusesafocusedbeamofradiationfocusedonthespotofthe
tumorand.orcancercells.Unfortunately,thisalsokillshealthycells.Researchdonebymany
marinebiologistsandplantphysicistsshowthatthisspecificalgaestrain,
D.Tertiolecta
,
undergoesauniqueformofcelldeath
similart
o
apoptosis,orPCD.Apoptosisisessentialtoall
eukaryoticorganismsandhelpsbuildlimbsandremovesomevestigialstructures.Studieshave
shownthattheapoptosisthatoccursineukaryoticcellsisamoreadvancedandevolvedwayof
theapoptosislikemechanicfoundinthe
D.Tertiolecta
strain(Segovia,Haramaty,Berges,&
Falkowski,2003).Butwhywouldthe
D.Tertiolecta
cell,aprokaryoticorganism,undergo
apoptosis?

ProblemStatementandRationale
Theissueofrenewableenergyandfuelhasbeenahotspotforresearchersforthepastdecadeor
so.Theyknowthatcountriesaresteadilyusinguptheworldssupplyofnonrenewableresources,

andthatwellneedaviablealternativeifwearetokeephavingpower.Therearealotofarticles
onbiofuel,suchaswhichsourcesarethebest,whethertousefirstorsecondgenerationbiofuels,
andwhyyoushouldntuseitatall.Onearticlestatedthatalgaeisthebestsourcetouse,asmore
thanhalfofitscompositionisfat(Top10SourcesofBiofuel,2010).Therewerealsoalotof
sourcesoncelldeathineukaryoticorganisms,andhowtheprocessmayhaveevolvedfrom
algae.Therewasalsoarelevantarticleonanapoptosislikemechanicinthe
Dunaliella
Tertiolecta
strain.Aftermoreresearchingonthetopic,somelettersweresentouttosome
expertsonapoptosis,biofuel,andalgaeculturingingeneral.Themainquestionwasifusing
algaeforbiofuelwouldbeaneffectivemeanstosolvetheworldsenergyproblems.Thisis
intendedtobebothanalternativemethodtononrenewablefossilfuelsandawaytomeetthe
constantlygrowingfueldemand.

BasisofHypothesis
Thefoundationforthefirstpartofthishypothesiscomesfromwonderingwhatthebest
sourceofbiofuelis,andwhetherornotthissourcecouldbeimprovedforfuturegenerationsto
liveon.Afterfurtherresearchonthetopic,itwasfoundoutthatalgaewerebothanextremely
goodsourceofbiofuel,andveryeasytotestinthelaboratory.Thediseasedeukaryoticcellidea
camefromanarticlepublishedonPubMed.Thearticlestatedthatthealgaestrain
Dunaliella
Tertiolecta
underwentaprocessofcelldeaththatwasstrikinglysimilartoapoptosisin
eukaryoticorganisms.Thelastpartcamefromwhyalgaeareanimportantpartintheglobalfood
web,andhowthataffectsusashumans.

OperationalDefinitions

Asuccessfuland/orliveculture:
Somespeciesofalgaecangointoatypeofdormantstate
whennotculturedproperly,whereonescientistmaythinkitsdead,whiletheothermaythink
itsalive.

ResearchDesign
Therewillbeamixofqualitativeandexperimentalresearchconducted.The
experimentalpartoftheresearchisactuallyattemptingtoculturethe
D.Salina
strain.The
qualitativeresearch,however,isseeingwhetherornotthismethodcanbeappliedtoimproving
thebiofuelgenerationprocess.Thereishopetoreinforcethestudythatalgaeareoneofthebest
sourcesforbiofuel,andputforththeideathatalgaereallyisourfuture.Inordertocollectthe
datafromthisexperiment,therewillbealabnotebookforprimarydataanalysis.