• Question: what have you found out so far?

    Asked by michel1 to Jo, Barbara on 17 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by habiba12.
    • Photo: Jo Hulsmans

      Jo Hulsmans answered on 10 Jun 2011:

      I have been doing my research for less than a year. My first personal ‘discovery’ was that a plant that can not start a symbiotic relationship with rhizobium bacteria will react when you treat them with these bacteria. Their lateral roots will stay very short compared to plants that are not treated with this bacteria, where the lateral roots develop in a normal way.

      This got me quite excited because in legume plants (where there is symbiosis) the lateral root cells curl and form nodules for the bacteria to live in (instead of roots). This means there is at least some similarity in the reaction of the 2 species of plants to the bacteria.

      I would love to show you some pictures here but unfortunately I can’t show any images until we have published the research :(.

    • Photo: Barbara Guinn

      Barbara Guinn answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      That science is fun but not always easy. That talking to young people about science is exciting and fun. That experiments that don’t work can be as important as one’s that do.
      I have found a new protein which is only found in cancer, and we think it can be used in a vaccine to remind the cells in your blood which can kill cancer cells, to do so. I also found some proteins that let us know when someone is diganosed with cancer, how long they are likely to survive. This may affect whether they have treatment, and also what treatment may work best for that patient.

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