LIVER CANCER MUTATIONS: EXPLORATORY RESEARCH AT SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY IN SHENZHEN, CHINA

Summer 2018

 
    

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I had the opportunity to work at the Southern University of Sciences and Technology in Shenzhen, China on a python-based research project that involved the study of genetic mutations in patients with hepatic cancer. 

Blood samples were collected from liver cancer patients at hospitals around the Shenzhen area and DNA was extracted and sequenced for further research. 

For this project, I was given the DNA sequence files by my principal investigator. The goal was to find genes that could be likely responsible for the presence of liver cancer. We did this by analyzing the copy number variations (the copies of a gene present in your DNA) between normal populations and our sample cancer patients.

Normally, all humans have some number of genetic mutations and copy number variations. While most are harmless, research has shown that some copy number variations are indications of precursors to cancer. 

To obtain data for the normal population, I used the Human Genome Project dataset on the Han Chinese population as comparators. The comparison was done using scripts I wrote in python to compare copy number variations between the Human Genome Project data and the blood sample data from the cancer patients.

Our intuition was that copy number variations that occurred more frequently would likely not be responsible for transformation to cancer cells. 



This project was my first time using python and I got to learn more about the useful libraries that helped in my research, including Biopython and CNVKit.

Because I worked in a lab with primarily native Chinese speakers, the language barrier was somewhat difficult for me at first. While I am conversationally fluent in Chinese, the technical terms were challenging and required further research on my part. I was able to learn much about copy number variations and the genetic compenents of hepatic cancer after this project.