Thoughts About Experimentation.

As we prepare to initiate experimentation in a couple of weeks, it has become increasingly essential to determine the setup of this experiment in regards to selecting a carcinogen to induce amongst the rats, as well as finalizing how groups of rats will be assimilated and deciding by which means the carcinogen will be administered to the rats. This post is going to include some background information in it just so readers can understand the reasoning behind these decisions. After reading, thinking, and weighing outcomes of potential strategies, the following have appealed to me as optimal decisions for this experiment:

(1)    We’ll have 3 groups of rats with 10 rats in each group. One group will serve as the control group (these rats will not be exposed to the carcinogen), while the other 2 groups will be exposed to the carcinogen. The reason there will be 2 other groups is because we cannot determine sans experimentation an ideal amount of carcinogen to expose the subjects to. Therefore, each of the two groups of rats will be exposed to a different amount (gradient dosage) of the carcinogen in order to reduce the risk of killing or otherwise mutilating the rats due to exposing them to one single, incorrect dosage. I discussed this aspect with Mayank earlier, and he pointed out that differing scans of the rats (inevitable, considering the administering of varied doses of the carcinogen will undoubtedly result in varied sizes and locations of tumors) will not be a problem because the scans are not to be compared, but rather regarded individually. The debate stood between administering the same amount of the carcinogen amongst the groups of rats versus using gradient dosages amongst the groups. By administering the same amount of carcinogen amongst the variable groups, there will be more in common in the rats’ scans in terms of size, location, and types of tumors resulting from exposure to the carcinogen. However, this idea is risky because if the dosage proves to be too great, the rats are prone to unwelcomed illnesses and fatalities. Administering different dosages of the carcinogen among the rat groups is potentially “risky” in the sense that patterns in observing tumors in the scans may be irregular and inconsistent, but because the scans aren’t really being compared with each other in the first place, I feel it will be more beneficial to stick with the gradient dosage idea so that we lessen the chances of ending up with an unsuccessful experiment.

(2)    Asbestos is the carcinogen which I find will be the most beneficial to utilize in this experiment. I read this article as the cancer Mesothelioma and carcinogen Asbestos were taken into consideration for this experiment to further understand the effects of Asbestos and Mesothelioma on rats over a period of time. A description of Mesothelioma, as well as the effects of Asbestos, can be found here. Asbestos induces cancer in rats through the gastrointestinal tract (through organs involved in ingestion and digestion). Rats used in this experiment should be between the ages of 1-2 years, as they have been found to withhold the greatest concentration of Asbestos which will allow for the fastest spreading of the cancer in the organisms. Rats in their earlier stages of life are still developing both internally and externally, thus posing problems for tracking tumors observed in CT scans because the development shows a change in tissue growth over time, making it hard to observe a concrete constant in determining solely tumor growth. Rats in their later stages of life are indeed fully developed; however, the old age of rats (their life span generally tends to be 4-5 years) will make them more susceptible to death way earlier than we can “allow” for. If we plan on taking monthly scans, we need the rats to live for at least a certain amount of time, and it’s a great risk to experiment on aged rats for that reason, for they are likely too weak. Therefore, I feel that relatively young but well-developed rats will be beneficial to use as subjects.

(3)    The organs in which we are aiming to induce cancer are the lungs and the kidneys, as they have been found to pertain to fractal geometry due to the abundance of fractal patterns present in both. Asbestos does result in carcinomas in both organs. Forms of asbestos include crocidolite, amosite, and chrysotile, and 50 µg and 100 µg of crociodolite (emphasis on graphs for that link) are the preferred doses of the carcinogen because they are the most cytotoxic forms and amounts of Asbestos which will be available to us (incase 100 µg turns out to be a lethal dosage, 50 µg of crociodolite will be the dose which one group of rats will be exposed to) .  Asbestos will be injected in the peritoneum (forming the line of the abdominal cavity) of the rats, where it begins to spread at the quickest rate to induce cancer. Time is of the essence.

(4)    A CT scan has not officially been obtained up to date; however, several veterinary facilities have been contacted regarding this. We are hoping to perform experimentation and obtain scans of the organs to track the cancer in the rats monthly using a CT scan.

(5) An intraperitoneal injection will contain the carcinogen to be administered to the variable groups. Please refer to this PowerPoint to understand the process of administering an intraperitonial injection. A 25 gram, 5/8″ needle with a 1 cc syringe (as instructed in the PowerPoint) will be used to distribute the carcinogen to the variable groups (however, microgram-markings or conversions will be necessary because the doses we plan on using are 50 micrograms and 100 micrograms).

I’m on the lookout for crociodolite samples. Since Asbestos is a toxin often found in homes and buildings, there’s a great abundance of corporations offering services to rid of Asbestos, but companies or labs selling actual Asbestos samples are not as prevalent. I’m sure that soon enough, I’m bound to stumble upon a place from which sells Asbestos and from there on, we should be good.

I will continue adding on to this post as I continue reading and researching.

Carcinogens to Induce Lung Cancer in Rats.

As I was reading, I discovered that NNK, a compound present in tobacco and released in smoke, can induce lung cancer in rat species. It is, however, less effective in rats than it is in humans. Experimental results have reflected that only a certain percentage of rats from an entire rat population will contract lung cancer as a result of exposure to NNK.

A tungsten alloy will induce cancer in rats. The potential dilemma with this, however, is that tungsten has the highest melting point of all metals. If we were to attempt to liquify the metal in order to inject it into the rats’ food, we will also need a method to melt it at 6,192 degrees Fahrenheit or 3,422 degrees Celsius.  As stated in the article present in the “tungsten alloy” hyperlink, the tungsten serves as a non-toxic carcinogenic alternative to lead or uranium.

Lead, I feel, would be a stellar carcinogen to induce in rats. Lead is toxic in humans only when digested or somehow seeped into the skin. Through proper gloves and skin protection, releasing lead into the rats’ environment can prove to be safe for us while it can prove to be toxic for rats. Lead can be released into the rats’ water supply. Rats in their pre-puberty stage should not be exposed to lead, as lead stunts the growth of the rats. Adult rats should be exposed to the lead in the post-growth period. I’m currently in the process of researching whether lead will induce cancer only in the lungs or also in other organs. Until then, I feel that lead will serve as an effective carcinogen.

The Ideal Organ.

Finally.

It seems that our best bet would be to utilize the lungs of rats as our subject for experimentation. The lungs show evidence of having a fractal pattern-furthermore, because the change in medium density and composistion is evident form the air to tissue gradients, a dye would not be necessary (Mayank Tahilramani). We must, however, be wary of the fact that the lungs are located in close proximity to the vascular system, which is obviously vital to the rats’ survival. The carcinogen utilized should be targeted specifically towards the lungs. Radon gas has been proposed as a potential carcinogen to use in this experiment; however, if we are exposed to that particular carcinogen, the rats might not be alone in suffering from cancer. I suppose if we could manage to expose and seal the gas in the experimental habitat of the rats we might be safe, but then again, it’s risky business regardless because Radon is Radon.
Potential carcinogens which can cause tumors in both humans and rats also include 3-methylcholanthrene (MCA) as well as diethylnitrosamine (DEN). Again, however, humans are not immune to either of those carcinogens. (“ScienceDirect – Toxicology Letters : Dynamic changes in DNA methylation during multistep rat lung carcinogenesis induced by 3-methylcholanthrene and diethylnitrosamine.”

Another idea, Quartz. Who knew?

I then used my brain to come up with ALKALINE! Rats hate batteries.  I have yet to look into whether this can result in actual cancer in rats.

The Rat Organ…Again.

I figured I’d add to the confusion that’s already been aroused thus far.

http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADB248915&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf

That site provides information on how rats are used in laboratory testing for breast cancer because of similar symptoms/reactions which are stimulated in both humans and rats due to the occurrence of breast cancer in either. So now, here are our options:

a) The…breasts

b) Kidneys (not necessarily the optimum size, but undoubtedly effective)

c) Sex organs

d) Liver (however, as Mayank explained, that’s the toxic waste center in the body, so there’s bound to be a lot of “gunk” in there which may inhibit the acquiring of accurate results)

e) The brain

f) Skin…but that might be difficult due to the immense size of the organ and the fur on the rats’ skin may prolong exposure of the rats to the carcinogens since the function of the fur is to protect. But if the carcinogens are injected in food or something, then the fur obviously has nothing to do with anything, and I apologize for the irrelevance of that information.

g) Lungs

That’s basically what we’ve come up with so far. Let me know if that site shows anything appealing or should rather be disregarded and we should instead consider the kidney, brain, or liver.

Rat Organs Induced With Carcinogens.

Alright. I have yet to find a fourth type of organ/tissue type that can be used, but at least this can get us started.

1)      Sex organs-Carcinogenesis is present at very early stages in the sex organs, such as in the ventral, dorso-lateral prostate, coagulating glands, and seminal vesicles. In order to determine when and how rats are being affected by carcinogens early on, sex organs should be induced with cancer-causing agents. Sex organs tend to be extremely similar between organisms of the same species.

2)      Liver-When induced with carcinogens, the liver increases the metabolism of an organism (catalytic reaction). Thus, liver cancer spreads faster than most other cancers because cells are able to multiply at a faster rate as metabolism increases, providing more energy.

3)      Kidney-Rat kidneys are morphologically very similar to human kidneys. Tumors in rat kidneys can be examined for the Hippel-Lindau (VHL) protein, which can be an asset to studying the development of cancerous tumors in kidneys. Changes in the VHL protein are common in rat tumors, a similar phenomenon which can be seen in the cancerous tumors of humans. Carcinogen-induced kidney rat tumors are related to carcinogen-induced human tumors, which is beneficial to the study since brown rats will serve as the subject to develop a fractal geometry model to detect cancer in humans.

4) Lung Cancer-Lung cancer tumors in brown rats are severely intensified by inhaling non-polar carcinogens. In humans, the count of carcinogens is conducted by cumulative exposure to airborne particles or by measuring the retained lung burden as particle mass or particle surface area at the end of exposure to a carcinogen in rats.

The linear relative rate model to study human responses is as follows:

RR(X) = 1 + β*X (2)

where RR(X) represents the relative rate in the exposed population; β represents the coefficient for cumulative exposure; and X is representative of the total exposure to airborne particles (mg/m3 x years).

The model used to study rat responses is as follows:

P(D) = 1 – exp(-Q0 – Q1*D – Q2*D2)

where where P(D) is the probability of lung tumors at a given dose, Q0 represents the coefficient for the background tumor rate; Q1 and Q2 are the coefficients for dose; and D represents dosage (particle mass or surface area lung burden).

 

Rat Species

Hello!

I did some research on rats and found that there are 5 main types:

1. The brown rat.
2. The black rat.
3. The cotton rat.
4. The bush rat.
5. The pack rat.

The average lifespan of rats ranges from 2 to 5 years when they are under healthy conditions (not applicable to this study due to the use of carcinogens). Brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) primarily serve as subjects for scientific research, so it is plausible to select them for this particular study. They will be beneficial to use because in the past, brown rats have served to aid scientists in research and experimentation, ultimately having led to a further developed understanding of diseases, genetics, and the various impacts of pharmaceutical drugs for the sake of scientific and medical advancements among humans. This experiment focuses on creating a model that incorporates fractal geometry sequences to simplify the process of identifying cancerous cells in the field of oncology: therefore, since we aim to contribute a medical advancement, brown rats would serve as ideal subjects to be induced with carcinogens to observe the effects on ‘rats’ over time, and later to utilize the model to identify cancerous cells in the rats scans current technology or possibly in collaboration with current technology to ease the process. Brown rats also possess metacognition, which is a mental aptitude that has been observed only in humans and primates, indicating that brown rats share similarities with humans and are more likely to produce results which may be more realistically applicable to humans than results produced by other organisms if they were used as subjects. Brown rats in their early stage of life would be preferable to use in this experiment because they will grow at the fastest rate and will show the greatest variance in regards to the effects of carcinogens on the ‘rat’. At three months of age, the brown rats are independent of their mothers and are able to mate. Brown rats in their early stage of life will be more active than middle-aged or old rats, which will also be far more vulnerable to the effects of cancer-causing agents in their systems and may not live long enough to study the effects of the carcinogens.

We must also consider the mating factor among rats used in the experiment. Will they be sterilized to prevent mating with fellow rats? Would it be beneficial for them to mate in order to observe symptoms present in offspring? Will all the rats used in the experiment be of the same gender to prevent mating?

Please feel free to add to this or suggest anything.

Rats.

1. Which species to use.
2. Which organ to target 
   1. (why?)

To Do List.

1. Identify lists of Rats applicable to this study: specific lab rats, genus, species, age, male vs female, etc.
2. Autopsy method.
3. Can a safe biopsy be done instead?
4. Correlate with oncology To-Do list for carcinogen background research:
   1. What kind of carcinogen with what kind of rats
   2. What organ specific? –> curable so rats can be released instead of terminated?
   3. look on rest of list on oncology and post as needed if separate thought occurs on this site, or oncology’s.
5. Hela cells as an alternative?–> research taken in vitro verses in vivo? comparison and contrasting both methods of study.
6. Investigation on any other research done with fractal application to identifying any irregularity in medicine or any other science.
7. Investigation on geometric structure of the vascular system, nervous system, cell arrangement, and any other biological geometry.