Epigenetics Project
Driving Question: How Can Lifestyle Choices Impact Your Health Through Epigenetics?
In this project, I explored the emerging realm of epigenetics, and how our lifestyle can impact it. However, my driving question and focus has drastically changed from the beginning of the project to the end. Read my work, notes, and reflections below.
FINAL VIDEO, SCRIPT, WORK CITED
RESEARCH
Research from various online articles and books
Notes include research from original driving question, biochemistry, and other misc research.
Notes from a lecture on diet epigenetics
I attended a lecture on how diet affects epigenetics at the Seattle Town Hall. This lecture was led by PhD Researcher, Kent Thornburg, and author, Judy Finlayson.
Epigenetics research from various online articles
Notes include research aimed towards answering my final driving question.
Notes from "The Sports Gene" by David Epstein
These notes were taken in the hopes of finding out why some people are extraordinary. However, the author did not draw conclusions, only proposed studies.
Misc notes on biology, chemistry, and epigenetic articles
Notes I took on various biology terms and processes. Victoria also printed out some articles on epigenetics for me to take read through and take notes.
I created this outline with Tonja. At this point, I had already switched my focus from exploring what makes athletes athletic, to epigenetics. We decided that, based on my driving question and claim, a causal chain would be the most effective. My vision for a final product at this point was a scholarly article.
CREATING AN OUTLINE
Research, Refocus, Reiterate
When I created the academic outline, I thought that methylation was the only form of epigenetic modification. During my research, I realized that other forms such as acetylation and phosphorylation also exist. I become obsessed with the need to know all facets of epigenetics, completely veering away from my focus. I met with Victoria who helped me to refocus by creating a mind map of my work so far. She helped me identify where I lost focus, what information I had and in what direction I could head. We decided that based on all my learning, I should create a TedTalk.
I prototyped by presenting my TedTalk to my advisory. I presented V2 (as I was still revising and editing V3) along with this slideshow.
Mind Mapping the Design Process
After finishing my final script, I created a detailed mind map using the mind map that Victoria and I created earlier. This was a visual I made to be demonstrated at my design fair exhibiton. I thought it would be a good visual to show at my design fair exhibiton. Look at the process below.
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