Help! In deciding project...

[Musaafirah]

This is mainly for advice from Sciency students, so if you don't like the subject feel free to turn away, but if you can give me links to reputable sources then I'm all game! :D
Right, so I'm in my final year and I'm to do a project proposal by the end of october and by then I should also have a kind of general idea of the experiment I'll be undertaking.
The background information I have is about Neisseria species, particularly N. lactamica and N. meningitidis.
From recent research it's been noted that N. lactamica and N. meningitidis reduces the inflammatory response from the immune system (This has been proven by a PhD student in the university).
The thing is I'm kind of confused as to how to go about my project, whether I should focus on what factors contribute to the reduced inflammatory response, as this can be used as a potential anti-inflammatory response. But then I thought that was a very broad subject and think it may take me a while, whereas I have only about 2 months of potential lab work time...
There is that or at the moment this has been proven by putting N.lactamica after N.meningitidis and not the other way round, so there is a potential to see if it works this way..
I'm confuzzled!!!

[Musaafirah]

Any takers?!!
A few hours later and BUMPETY BUMP!!

[Musaafirah]

Bumpety bumpety bump :(

[alcurad]

maybe you can develop an anti-biotic resistant strain?
sorry:), I wish I could help but this is not my area of expertise.

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[Musaafirah]

Oh. Jazakallahukhair for your input though :D
Seriously though..I feel a lil bit on the confuzzled side..
I'll probably have to go bug my supervisor before our meeting..

[roohani.doctor]

i think you should go with the factors because it would be away more interesting, in that space of time, maybe you could just choose a couple of the factors and go into detail with them? or you could switch the species around, but that might be a little boring and not every creative?

let me know wut u do...this sounds fun!

[Woodrow]

Perhaps you could generate a short computer model of both species and show the differences or similarities exhibited in a few environments. the raw data could be gathered from existing studies. This would be nothing new, but could become a very interesting visual representation of available studies and could be presented as either printouts or a "live" PC program, depending on your level of computer expertise.

[Musaafirah]

^^ Umm, no it's gotta be a physical experiment. Computer model would be just a simulation and not considered original research.
The project I hope to do will be a part of an ongoing PhD research, which seems to have been proven in the university, but not in literature elsewhere, so whatever we do will add strength to the study if you get what I mean.
I'm having the meeting with my supervisor so I may ask her to make up my mind for me so that I can then write up a proposal Insha'allah.
After that I'll insha'allah let you guys know what I'm doing.
It's just that it would've been nice to have some advice from anyone who's performed original research, particularly in the immunology and bacteriology field.

[Woodrow]

^^ Umm, no it's gotta be a physical experiment. Computer model would be just a simulation and not considered original research.
The project I hope to do will be a part of an ongoing PhD research, which seems to have been proven in the university, but not in literature elsewhere, so whatever we do will add strength to the study if you get what I mean.
I'm having the meeting with my supervisor so I may ask her to make up my mind for me so that I can then write up a proposal Insha'allah.
After that I'll insha'allah let you guys know what I'm doing.
It's just that it would've been nice to have some advice from anyone who's performed original research, particularly in the immunology and bacteriology field.

For what it is worth my Ph.D dissertation was on intercortical communication between the two hemisphere's in people with severed corpus callosums. It was an extension of my M.A. thesis which was a study in non-verbal communication. Plus some prior work in Comparative Anatomy relating to the brain structures of monotremes and marsupials, studying how they function even though they do not have a corpus callosum.

Perhaps, you can do an extension of your Master's thesis and modify it to cover a study of Neisseria. It is usually simpler to extend upon any previous work you have done, rather than beginning with a "tabula rasa"

[Musaafirah]

Thanks for the advice bro! That sounded like one lengthy topic!
Just for clarification, I'm a lowly undergraduate studying for my Bachelors, so I don't think I need to be quite as in depth as for a Masters.
And I'm coming in on the project pretty cold, as in I haven't done any previous research as such, but I will be continuing in a way the projects performed by the previous Bachelors students, but with a new angle and with new experimental techniques.
Again, Jazakallahukhair for your input! The advice is greatly appreciated!

[Woodrow]

Thanks for the advice bro! That sounded like one lengthy topic!
Just for clarification, I'm a lowly undergraduate studying for my Bachelors, so I don't think I need to be quite as in depth as for a Masters.
And I'm coming in on the project pretty cold, as in I haven't done any previous research as such, but I will be continuing in a way the projects performed by the previous Bachelors students, but with a new angle and with new experimental techniques.
Again, Jazakallahukhair for your input! The advice is greatly appreciated!

Mabrook on your being chosen for such an assignment, such is usually reserved for those already doing post-graduate work.

In this case I would suggest going to the university library and searching the work of previous students that have worked on the project. (Most unis keep those on file in either the school or dept library).

From there pick out two differing works and see if you can design a project that would tie them both together. It would be a great help in bringing together any loose ends in the ongoing project.

Or, If possible, try to meet with the project head or coordinator and ask if there is a specific area that is most in need of work and/or validation.

[Musaafirah]

Hmm... after many changes and stuff, what I'll be working on is whether the inflammatory response of Neisseria meningitidis is suppressed by the commensal Neisseria in the nasopharynx.
I have started with an introduction and now am just procrastinating.
Insha'allah though I'll be establishing bacterial stocks on organisms that have never been worked on so far, so this is all new.
Ah well..

[Al-Hanbali]

:salamext:

Is this Biomed ?

[Musaafirah]

Well am studying biomed. Why?

[Musaafirah]

Summary of project.
I've disproved my hypothesis. It would seem that not all commensals (well not the 2 I worked with in any case) are able to attenuate the immune response to pathogenic strains of the same organism. Or that I'm incompetent.
Now it's a case of writing this all up. Rah.