Description
Elephants are the largest land mammals and can live as long as humans, and their massive bodies are composed of far more cells than smaller animals. Because of these two factors, one might expect elephants to have a high rate of cancer. However, Peto’s Paradox demonstrates that there is no direct correlation between body size and cancer risk – actual rates of cancer in elephants aren’t higher than even mice! In this hands-on lab, students will learn about the TP53 tumor suppressor gene, the p53 protein it codes for, and its role in regulating cell division. They’ll then use gel electrophoresis to explore unique genetic characteristics that elephants possess involving the TP53 gene. This lab is ideal for life science classes, genetics classes, and agriculture courses (grades 9-12).
This MiniLab is based on the Elephants and Cancer activity from the Science Education Partnership (SEP) program at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center in Seattle, WA. The SEP program provides additional lesson materials for this lab as well as extensive curricular materials as part of a broader Elephants and Cancer unit. These resources can be found at the Science Education Partnership Website.
Materials Included in each MiniLab
Each MiniLab contains enough materials for 10 workstations, 2 – 3 students per workstation.
Materials include:
- Five Ready-to-Load DNA samples
- MiniOne® Marker
- Ten 1% agarose GreenGel™ GelCups
- 1 bottle of Tris-Acetate-EDTA (TAE) buffer concentrate
- One bag of 0.65 mL microcentrifuge tubes
- One bag of 2 – 200 µL micropipette tips
