Reflection

Over the course of this service project,we thought that using grid computing was a unique idea to help researchers find out more about cancer. In our project, we lent our computing power to find drugs to help deactivate proteins associated with neuroblastoma, a common form of childhood cancer. Grid computing is an intelligent idea that uses volunteer devices and deliver information to researchers to use. It was really amazing how we contributed to cancer research without actually physically conducting the research. It was impressive to think that running a program on a computer can help further research in cancer. Also, it was simple because we didn't have to actually do anything on the computer but use it and the grid computing program just uses energy from volunteer devices to power the research. It was a rewarding feeling to know that we are contributing research to cancer without actually taking time out of our lives.

In our interview with Dr. Sirridge, we thought he was amazing to talk to. He answered our questions to the fullest extent and seemed very knowledgeable in cancer. We could tell that he loved his job. He talked a lot about his patients and how they grew as individuals. Many of them got stronger as a result of fighting cancer. We learned so much more about cancer that we hadn't known before. He related cancer to evolution by telling us that cancer has evolved very rapidly. This makes cancer very difficult to treat. But, cancer screenings and cancer treatment have improved. He also enlightened us about childhood cancer and how children's immune systems are better at fighting cancer than adults. Dr. Sirridge was a very nice person to talk to and we enjoyed interviewing him.

Overall, we liked how this project related back to evolution as we read the article on intratumor heterogeneity. We thought it was fascinating applying Darwin's postulates to cancer tumors. Natural selection can act on cancer tumors and make some tumors more resistant to drugs. It was interesting that using phylogenetic trees can map back cancer mutations and allow scientists to track cancer genetic paths. This could lead to treatments to help eliminate cancer. In conclusion, contributing research to childhood cancer was a rewarding feeling and we felt very good to know that we contributed to a great cause and gained more knowledge as a result.