Sarah Hasan Al Abdullatif, Rund Tawfiq,
Dhahran Ahliyya Schools, Dammam, Eastern Province, SAUDI ARABIA
Carcinoma is the most commonly occurring type of cancer in humans. It`s a genetic disease often caused by the mutation of the patient`s p16INK4A gene, a tumor suppressor gene. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the replacement of a mutated p16 gene with the gene wild type will normalize the cell cycle, entirely employing the following virtual labs: PCR from the University of Utah, Electrophoresis from the Rochester Institute of Technology, Principles of Biotechnology from the National Repository of Online Courses Science The following simulation was conducted: Two cell lines were cultured in a tissue culture environment: one with a mutated P16 gene and one with a wild-type p16 gene. The cell lines were examined and compared. Then, the cell line with the mutated gene had the gene extracted using restriction enzymes. Later, the wild type was injected through a lytic virus. A meta-analysis was conducted assessing expected results of the experiment. The results of six researches studying p16 gene function and/or deletion were analyzed statistically using t-test and random effects models, which showed the data not homogenous. These virtual lab results indicate the probability is after injecting a healthy p16 gene, cells and patients have higher rates of survival, thus tumors will be suppressed. A program was constructed using algorithms to measure the amount of tumor formation by inserting certain attributes according to the hypothesis. Further studies can one day lead to the restoring of the p16 gene and the treatment of negative cell division.