Forwardedmessage

From:"JennaEGallegos"<
jegallegos@ucdavis.edu
>
Date:May24,201611:46AM
Subject:Re:StudentsofSanMarin
To:"HanaOngwongsakul"<
haongwongsakul@students.nusd.org
>
Cc:

Hieveryone,

We'renotprofessors,justgraduatestudents,butwecanstilltrytoansweranyquestionsyou
have.Sincepotatoesalreadyhaveageneforactin,wereyouhopingtointroduceadditional
copiesoftheactingeneortoincreasetheexpressionoftheexistinggene?Whyactin
specifically?Whypotatoes?

Jenna

OnTue,May24,2016at10:34AM,HanaOngwongsakul<
haongwongsakul@students.nusd.org
>
wrote:

DearProfessor,
WearestudentsofSanMarinHighSchoolinNovato,CA.Thefourofushaveseenthe
workyouhavedoneatDavisandknewthatyouwouldbeaperfectmentorforthebiotech
projectwearestarting.Weareinterestedintheresultsandbenefitsofgenetically
modifyingfood,namelypotatoes,toincreasenutrition.Werelookingtoincreasethe
contentofproteinthroughintroducingthegeneforactinproduction.Wewillbeworking
ondesigninganexperimenttomasterthisprocedure.

Wethinkthiswillbepossible,asprocedureslikethishavebeendonebefore.Asyouknow,
cashcropsaregeneticallymodifiedconstantly.Thesecropsareusuallyalteredfor
resistancetoherbicidesorpesticides,butpurposeslikeincreasednutritionexist.An
exampleofthisisgoldenrice.

Itwouldbeverybeneficialtoourprojecttogetprofessionalfeedbackonouridea.Forthis
projectweareonlydesigninganexperiment,notconductingit.Evenso,welooktomakea
thoroughandeffectiveexperiment,andhopeyoucankeepcorrespondencewithus

throughoutourproject(whichwillprobablyonlylastforaweekortwo,school'salmost
out!).Weappreciateanyamountoftimeyougiveus.

Thankyou,
RodrigoAlvarado
HanaOngwongsakul
MimiPinson
ParkerSpencer

HanaOngwongsakul

tomepinson,
paspencer,me

Forwardedmessage
From:"DestinyDavis"<
desdavis@ucdavis.edu
>
Date:May25,20161:37PM
Subject:Re:StudentsofSanMarin

May25(7
daysago)

To:"HanaOngwongsakul"<
haongwongsakul@students.nusd.org
>
Cc:

Hello!
I'dbegladtooffersomeguidanceonyourproject.Ithinkthebestplacetostartiswithanoutline
andabriefexplanationofwhypotatoes,whyactin,andwhyit'simportant/usefultodowhatyou
wanttodo.That'swhereeveryscientiststarts.Onceyouhavethatsenditourwayandwecan
offersomehelptofillinanygaps.
TomakeiteasieryoucanjustkeepsendingstufftobothmeandJenna.Scienceisdonebetterin
groups,anyway.
Destiny

HanaOngwongsakul

May27(5
daysago)

tomepinson,
paspencer,me

Forwardedmessage
From:"DestinyDavis"<
desdavis@ucdavis.edu
>
Date:May27,201612:54PM
Subject:Re:StudentsofSanMarin
To:"HanaOngwongsakul"<
haongwongsakul@students.nusd.org
>
Cc:"JennaGallegos"<
jegallegos@ucdavis.edu
>

Greatstart!Definitelythemostimportantpartofbeginningascienceprojectatanylevelis
answeringthequestion"why"andknowingwhat'salreadybeendone.Mainlythisisthepart
whereyoureallysitdownandthinkaboutwhatahighproteinpotatowoulddoforpeople.What
issueswoulditaddressandforwhom.Alsokeepyoureyeopenduringyourresearchtoseeif
thereareanyothercropsthatpeoplehavemodifiedtocontainhighprotein.Maybeyoucanget
someideasfromthem.

It'sclearthatyou'vethoughtaboutwhymodifyingpotatoeswouldbebeneficial.I'dliketoofferup
afewmorereasons:thepotatoisamajorcroparoundtheworld.It'sacropwithalonghistoryof
cultivationandisimportanttoalotofpeoplenotjustforfoodbutalsotomanypeople'sculture
andhistory(seeIrishPotatoFamine).Ithasalotofcarbohydrates,whichmaynotbeofextreme

benefittoplacesliketheUSwherealotofthepopulationisoverweight,butisveryvaluablein
developingcountrieswherecaloricintakeislimited.Yourlastpointaddressesthisconcern.You
couldalsopointoutthatshiftingthepotato'snutrientprofiletowardshavingmoreproteincouldbe
apositivehealthbenefitforeverybody,notjustthoseindevelopingcountries.

Asfarasactingoes,Ithinkinordertomaketheargumentthathighactinmeanshealthieryou'd
needtoincludealittlemoreinformationaboutactin.Whatdoesitdointheplant?Doyouforesee
anynegativeswithproducinglotsofitinaplant?Whatmakesyouthinktheplantwillbethicker
(andwhatdoyoumeanbythicker)andthatthickerplantsmeansweatherresistant?Doesactin
haveanyspecialaminoacidsthatweneed?Doesithaveanyrareaminoacidsthataren'tfound
inalotoffruitsorvegetables?Thisisparticularlyimportanttoveganandvegetarianpeoplesince
individualtypesofplantsonlycontainafewoftheessentialaminoacids,whereasmeatoreggs
containsallofthem.That'swhytheyhavetobecarefultoeatawidevarietyofplantstogetallof
theaminoacidstheyneed.Youmentionitbriefly,sothisisjustfoodforthought.

Alright,sonowthatyou'vegotanideaofwhyit'susefulandhowitmightaffectdifferentgroupsof
people,youshouldstartplanningyourstepsforward.Isuggestyoucomeupwithanoutlinefor
whatyouneedtodotoactuallyproduceyourhighproteinpotato.

Ifyou'dlikesomematerialtohelpguideyouletmeknowandIcansendyousome,butI'dliketo
seewhatyoucanpulltogetheronyourownfirsttoseewherewemighthelpfillinthegaps.

Goodwork!
Destiny

OnThu,May26,2016at10:48AM,HanaOngwongsakul
<
haongwongsakul@students.nusd.org
>wrote:

Theproblemwiththecurrentpotatoesisthattheyaren'thighinnutritionorprotein.If
theycouldbegeneticallymodifiedtohavethesetraitsthenwecouldusethemasa
primarysourceoffoodifotherfoodsstarttoparish.Ourgrouppickedpotatoes
becausetheyareextremelyeasytogrow.Potatoesalreadyhaveabout4.3gramsof
proteinperaserving.Ourgroupbelievesthatthiscanchange.Oursolutionistoget
potatoesandchangetheirgeneticstructuresothattheycancontainthingsthatthey
donthavealreadyinhighquantitysothattheycanbeeatenasamaindishon
people'splates.Thisideaisintheorysofarreallybeneficialsincethecropwouldbe
abletobegrownquicklyandinlargeamounts,sinceallyouneedisthetubersofa

potatotogetmorepotatoes.Thisgeneticallymodifiedpotatowouldalsohavemore
proteinavailablefromaddingtheACTBgeneintothepotatoallowingittomake
moreActinwhichisaproteinsothatvegansandvegetarianscouldeatitastheirmain
proteinssource.Notonlythatbutthefactthatmoreproteinisinthepotatowouldalso
makeitthickerandbecauseitwouldbethickeritwouldbeweatherresistant.This
wouldallowthepotatotocontainmorecaloriesthananormalpotatosoaperson
wouldnthavetoeattwentypoundsofpotatoestogetthenecessarycaloriesforthe
day.
Thanks,wereallyappreciateyourfeedback:)