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Summer Speed Dating
At the end of last school year, I was introduced to the process I would be enduring this year in AP Research. I was told that it was a lot like a dating process and therefore, it would start with speed dating. This is where my summer assignment came into play as I was in charge of looking at multiple topics that interested me and getting to know them a little better. After completing AP Seminar last year, I already had an idea of some topics that I was interested in, and this helped me to narrow down my topics a bit and allowed me to find roughly 20 topics. From these 20 topics, I dove into them, looking at research, and identifying the gap that I could look into. From this, I was able to see how my interest would grow throughout the year, and I saw that I really wanted to lean into the scientific field, and more specifically I wanted to work doing hands-on research. This presented a minor problem however, because I did not take the biotechnology research class, which I had presumed would create an issue because I wouldn’t be able to do the research that I wanted to do. Regardless of this, I brainstormed projects that would interest me, but keeping in mind I might have to change gears once the school year started based on my lack of experience in the field. Some of my topics included the effects of Creatine, stress and stress management in teens, and addiction to over the counter medications, specifically Benadryl.
Picking a Second Date
Once the school year started, the process of narrowing my topics down began and after completing the summer assignment I was able to reflect and see which of the topics I could really see myself working on for the remainder of the year. At this point, I had three major interests, suicide rates among teens, comparing how addicting nicotine is in comparison to over the counter medication such as benadryl, and comparing fictional novels about wars to actual events, seeing the accuracy portrayed in the novel. However, there were obviously challenges in each of these topics, and especially with the more historical project, I did not see myself spending a year researching it, and staying interested in it while I was researching. At this point I wanted to look at other topics, as I felt as if these topics were not going to work, for the level I was at, and in the given time frame. One other topic that really caught my eye was the research done on creatine. Through my summer assignment I saw that the FDA doesn't regulate it so the research on it was somewhat limited. I then remembered hearing that creatine was rumored to cause hair loss in humans, and that was something that was quantifiable to research, I wanted to move forward in this direction.
Making It Official
After deciding on evaluating the impact of creatine on hair loss, I had to determine which direction that I wanted to move in so that I could create replicable and scholarly research. I ran into a slight roadblock at this point because since there was such a lack of research regarding what I wanted to determine, I would need to do the research myself in order to make my research scholarly and replicable. This again, ran into my issue of lacking experience in the Rock Canyon Biotechnology program. As a result I felt stuck in a corner. After further consideration, I found out that I would be able to use Drosophila melanogaster because I had already used them in some of my previous research in my sophomore year in my Introduction to Biotechnology course. Because of this, I felt as though my research was finally starting to come together. Since I knew I wanted to use D.melanogaster and I wanted to test the impacts of Creatine, it was just down to solidifying exactly what I wanted to look at. Knowing that supplements such as creatine are not strictly monitored nor approved by the FDA, and the fact that creatine is a relatively new supplement, it led to various gaps that I could research. The first step in this process was finding what benefits or side effects come as a result of creatine. Initially, I became fascinated with the notion that by taking creatine, it can cause hair loss, and as a result, I looked further into the hairs that the D.melanogaster had on their body, which was a reasonable yet quantifiable because I would be able to take the averages and determine the change that way, which would determine whether or not creatine did cause hair loss or not.
The First Argument
As in any relationship, there will be arguments. I hit this argument when further researching administering creatine to the D.melanogaster. This quickly became an issue as it was unclear in all of the sources I looked through as to whether or not humans and the D.melanogaster had the same pathways for hair growth. From the research I had done, it appeared as though the pathway that was similar was the hair on the wings, as opposed to the hair on their heads, which was the variable that would have been most plausible to measure. This became an issue in my research because I still wanted to use creatine and I wanted to measure the impacts of it because of the lack of information around it. This caused me to look further into creatine, where I observed metabolism as another advertised aspect of it. I then started thinking about more measurable factors regarding metabolic impacts of creatine. This was incredibly interesting because I thought there would definitely be a quantitative measure that I could take and it would be relatively easy in regards to the science that I would have to do with the D.melanogaster. At this point I started looking into the impacts of an increased metabolism, and what really caught my attention was a decreased life expectancy as a result of an increased metabolism. After determining this, I double checked if there was a gap, however, there was already research that demonstrated that creatine did increase metabolism.
This set me back quite a bit because I had been pretty positive that this was the direction that I wanted to go in my research. However, because I had narrowed it down this far already, I began thinking about other various supplements that had been claimed to increase metabolism. Going back to the drawing board, I started looking at a more natural path, ideally finding a supplement that was more natural, and did not have enough research done that it would fit within the guidelines of my research. Going through the list, I had narrowed it down to green tea extract, and 7-Keto DHEA or 7-Keto Dehydroepiandrosterone. This caught my attention as every source that I looked at with this supplement claimed that not enough research had been done to exemplify that it was a successful metabolite. As a result, I decided to move forward in this direction, and began researching it in a new annotated bibliography.
Solidifying my Relationship
After deciding on 7-Keto DHEA, I already had the basic framework of how I had planned to move forward with creatine, however, I had to slightly adjust as it was a new supplement. Looking at past methodologies, I was able to settle on mine, using a very similar methodology to that of one I had previously used. Following this, I began filling out my research proposal, which would ultimately decide whether or not I would be able to move forward with this topic. After using my previous research to present in a mini research symposium, where I was able to obtain feedback from peers, I then began editing my research proposal to address this feedback. As a result, I was able to develop proper justification for the methodology of my research, and ultimately decide on the justification of my research as a whole. Throughout the process of drafting my research proposal, I became very close with my topic, and was able to see just how the rest of my year will be structured according to the needs of the class structure as well as my paper as a whole. Once my research proposal was complete, I had to get my proposed research project approved, which would essentially determine whether or not this project met all of the requirements. After making sure that the head of the Rock Canyon Biotechnology Department as well as the head of chemical safety approved of my methodology, as well as my AP Research advisor approving of my project, I was ultimately able to move forward and begin my research!
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