Final Project
—
Design ‘THE EXPERIMENT’
The final project involves
writing a res

Final Project
—
Design ‘THE EXPERIMENT’
The final project involves
writing a research proposal that describes
a
NEW
‘potential’ treatment/cure
for a disease
OR life en
hancement
of your choosing using genetic enginee
ring and/or molecular
me
dicine
AND
the present
ation/production which will promote your product either through oral
presentation
, pre
–
rec
orded advertisement (i.e.; a commercial) or
mixed media
.
You will be expected to
use original literature, as well as,
other
reliable resources in researching your topic. Subsequently, you
will write a convincing proposal that p
rovides:
•
background on y
our disease
•
current knowledge concerning therapeutics for the disease (if any)
OR life problem
•
any drawbacks to current treatments AND how your
treatment
will differ
•
an
explanation of your approach to tre
atment, including an explanation of a
ny original
experiments they are
needed to sho
w
‘pro
of
–
of
–
principle’
(including scientific models that you
would use AND why you chose them)
•
a description of the techniques that you will use to treat the disease (SPECIFICS WILL BE
REQUIRED)
–
identify the
gene (if possible), explain which sites in the gene will be targeted AND
how
Guidelines for Organizing a Research Proposal:
A research proposal has three main points:
1) Explanation of proposed research (what will be done)
2) Methods and techniques to be employed (how it will be done)
3) Novelty and/or importance of the study (why it should be done)
These points
MUST
be addressed within the format below.
I.
Title
This should provide a specific summary of the proposed work
Example 1:
NO (too much detail)
A three
–
year study of population decline in the spotted salamander (Ambysto
ma maculata)
following logging,
road building and wetland mitigation near vernal
pools in a hardwood forest
of northeastern Connecticut
YES
A study of population decline in the spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculata) following
logging in northeastern
Connecticut
Example 2:
NO (not enough detail)
Habitat models for use in rivers
YE
S
Validation of in
–
stream habitat models for the Fenton River, Storrs, Connecticut
II. Abstract (one paragraph)
This is a brief description of the hypothesis and the goals of the experiment. It should in
dicate what
questions you, as a
researcher, will b
e seeking to answer. An abstract provides a summary that allows
readers to quickly assess the basic
premise of your proposal.
III. Introduction and Literature Review
You should begin with the basics of your research topic and then narrow the focus of th
os
e details that
are especially
pertinent to the proposed work. Present what is cur
rently known
, and how these
discoveries were
made. This is the place to show what is interesting and cutting
–
edge in the field that
led to your research idea. You are
laying t
he groundwork for your proposal with the material that you
present.
Use a plethora of sources especially primary
sources such as journal articles. Textbooks, web sites (with
great caution) and personal communications with professors
can also be
useful sources. Make sure to
cite appropriately in the text (more to follow on citation)
This is the heart of your assignment and will probably be the lengthiest piece of it. Your
sentence
structure should look
something like this:
• “According to Thullen et al. (1999), nitrate removal rates were highest in those wetlands that
contained a divers
e
number of plants species.”
• “Within organisms cellular nitrogen generally exists as either ammonia
–
nitrogen or amino
–
nitrogen,
which are
the
most reduced forms of nitrogen (Delwiche, 1981).”
Never leave your reader in doubt as to the source of your information! Cite thoroughly and cite
properly.
***A note on sources, paraphrasing, and citations:
Unlike the style you might use in English e
xpository writing, technical science writing is t
erse, clear cut,
and lacking in
artistic enhancements. When using information from a source avoid quoting directly.
Read the piece, put the article down,
and then put the important points into your own words
. By setting
the article aside you are allowing yourself to process
the information, instead of just spitting the idea
back out in a slightly altered sentence.
Citations tend to be (author, year). If you refer to the author in the sentence, immediat
ely f
ollow the
name with (year)
(see examples above).
IV. Research Hypothesis
What is the hypothesis that you are testing? What are the questions that you seek to answer? Based
on what is known in
this field, explain what you expect to see and hope to show thr
ough your result?
This is where you share your thoughts.
V. Material and Methods
Describe your proposed experiment in depth. What processes are you going to use? What kind of
equipment and supplies
will be necessary for the project? What will you use for
a control, and what
will be your replicate? Be thorough, but not
excessive. It might be useful to construct an outline before
completing this section, as this will give you an idea of what
should be occurring when, and if your goals
are attainable in the g
iven time.
VI. Conclusion and Justification
Your literature review will have already helped to lead the reader to an understanding of why your
topic is of importance.
This is where you will explicitly state how your proposed research will advance knowled
ge. What are
the far
–
reaching
effects? Will your study potentially change practices or policies? Why is it that your
research deserves funding?
VII. Bibliography
Include all the resources that were used in the writing of the paper. Follow your instruct
or’
s guidelines
for formatting,
which will resemble the styles that your would find in a plant biology journal.
Example:
Caspar T, Huber SC, Somerville C (1985) Alternation in growth, photosynthesis, and respiration in a
starchless
mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) deficient in chloroplast phyosphoglucomutase activity.
Plant Physiol
79: 11
–
17
Formatting AND Source
Instructions:
Your proposal
should be between
eight
(minimum) to
ten
(maximum), typewritten, double
–
spaced
pages with 1” margins on top, bottom, right, and left side, and size 12 font. Reports shorter
than the
eight
–
page
minimum will be penalized.
Ple
as
e proofread your report.
Points will
be deducted for
excessive spelling, typing, and grammatical errors.
The
MCC
library
website
is always a good source for scientific research journals and the Internet has
many reliable information sites you can use
.
Some reliable Internet sites include the following:
www.nih.gov