Undergraduate Research in Biology
Students have the opporunity to do cutting edge research with faculty at Concordia University, St. Paul.
HPV and cancer: It is well established that the human papilloma virus (HPV) promotes cancer development after infecting cervical cells—several strains of the virus have been linked to 99.7% of human cervical cancers. Viral infection can dramatically affect the physiology of a cell and lead to cancerous growth, typically by preventing apoptosis (cell death) and promoting cell proliferation (cell division to form new cells). HPV may also play a role in other human cancers, such as breast, ovarian, and oral cancers; the virus has been detected in tissue samples from cancer patients from around the world. Research students at Concordia University have used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR; a technique used to amplify specific DNA sequences) to detect the presence of HPV genes in several different human cancer cell lines. We have detected at least one HPV strain (and possibly a second strain) in these cancer cells, lending further support to the connection between HPV and the onset of other types of cancer.
For more information please contact Shellie Kieke (Kieke@csp.edu)
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