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Dinesh

Dinesh

Your Age
14

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Age

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Age

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Curriculum
British

Your mailing address

PO Box

City

99500

Dubai

Emirate

Country

Dubai

UnitedArabEmirates

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00971504950641

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dlohano@gmail.com

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SaintMary'sCatholicHighSchool,Dubai

PO Box

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52232

Dubai

Emirate

Country

Dubai

UnitedArabEmirates

Name of your adult educator (teacher / parent / guardian /

other)
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Mr.

First Name
MuhammadAnwar

Last Name
UlHaq

Email
muhammad_ulhaq74@yahoo.com

Submission form

1. Describe your project in tweetable form (we may tweet it

after submissions are closed)

ToexplorewhetherornottheabsenceofgravityatISSaffectsPCRinDNA
Replication,specificallytheenzymereactionofDNAPolymeraseI

2. Describe the scientific problem that you propose to address.

What is the question you are trying to answer? What makes it
significant, relevant, or interesting?
DNAMutationsarethemostcommonissuesfacedduringspacetravel,anda
loopholecouldbeextremelyperilous.CosmicRadiation,thevacuumofspace
etc.areallverycommoncausesofmutations,butdoesmicrogravityplaya
roleaswell?DNAReplicationinvolvesDNAPolymeraseI,whichisavery
pivotalandimportantenzyme.Asweknow,enzymehavecertainconditions,
whichunlessfulfilled,willnotperformasexpected,suchasadifferencein
temperaturefromtheoptimumtemperatureoftheenzymewillslowthereaction
andeventuallydenatureifthereisalargedifference.Similarly,the
absenceorpresenceofgravitymightaffecttheworkingconditionsofDNA
PolymeraseI,andmayincreaseordecreasetherateofreaction,andreaching
anyoneoftheextremescouldbeparticularlydangerousandmaybecomeoneof
thereasonstoDNAMutations(errorsintheprocessofreplication)asfast
orslowreplicationmightresultinmoreerrorsinthebindingofthe
nitrogenousbases.SincehumansareadaptedtoDNAReplicationinagravity
controlledenvironment,theeffectsontheDNAmaybeadverse.

3. State your hypothesis. What are your objectives?

IbelievethatthemicrogravityonboardattheISSwillmutatetheDNAin
somewayduetoitsreadaptationinalmostzerogravityandthechangeof
itsrateofreactionintheenzymeactivityofDNAPolymeraseI,whichisthe
maincomponentinbindingtheDNA.Ihavetofindoutifmytheoretical
predictionsaretrueandiftheyapplytothepracticalworld.Reachingan
anticipatedconclusionwillmaybehelpusrelatetosomeconditionsthat
astronautsandspacetravelersfaceafterreturningbackingtoEartheg.Bone
densitydepletionetc.Ifwereabletodecipherthecausesbehindthese
issues,wemightbeabletolateravoidthemusingcountermeasure
equipment/precautions.

4. Explain how the unique environment aboard the International

Space Station is required to test your hypothesis. What
conditions of the space station are essential for your research?
TheuniqueenvironmentofmicrogravityattheISSisthemainvariable
involvedindiscoveringwhetherornotDNAisaffectedbygravityandhowit
couldchangeDNA(ormutateit).TheISSinspaceisalsotemperature
controlled,whichisalsoimportantformaintainingtheoptimumtemperature
requiredforenzymereactiontotakeplaceandavoidingitsdenaturization.
ThemoisturecontrolalsohelpstheDNAfromdehydratingsinceDNAisdriven
intotheAformwhenunderdehydratingconditions,andnoexposurefromthe
vacuumhelpspreventanycontamination.

5. Outline your experimental plan. How will you use PCR to test
your hypothesis? Specify for example: the samples you will
analyze, controls that you will use, and the possible
experimental outcomes.

PCRwillyouusedalongwithatarget,withtheDNAcontainingthegene
interestedinalongwiththetwoprimersalongwiththeenzymeDNAPolymerase
I,foundinalllivingcellsandresponsibleforcopyingDNAwhencell
dividesandchemicalsthatPolymeraseneedstobuildnewDNA.Temperatureis
controlledandisfirstheatedusingspecialPolymerasetoseparatethe
strands,whichwoulddestroynormalenzymes.Later,itiscooledtofindthe
matchinggeneandthenisleftattheoptimumtemperature.Theforceof
gravity,moisturelevels,radiationexposureandallotherfactorswhich
couldcontaminatetheexperimentshouldbecontrolledandanyformof
fluctuationcoulddecreasetheaccuracyoftheexperiment.Outcomesinclude
mutationsintheDNAduetotheeffectsofgravityandchangeintherateof
reactionandreplicationinDNA,eitherslowerorfasterandexperimentcan
bereplicatedtoprovidemoreaccurateoutcomes.