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Quantifying Bacterial Growth in the Guts and Hemolymph of Fruit Flies: Mathematical Modeling and Data Interpolation/Extrapolation

Author(s): Maila Hallare1, Iordanka Panayotova2, Anna Salazar3

1. NSU Math 2. Christopher Newport University 3. MBCH

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Summary:
In this activity, students will analyze raw data obtained from an experiment that explores the effect of overexpressing the Ssk protein in order to strengthen the intestinal barrier and prevent bacteria from leaking out of the gut and into the…

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In this activity, students will analyze raw data obtained from an experiment that explores the effect of overexpressing the Ssk protein in order to strengthen the intestinal barrier and prevent bacteria from leaking out of the gut and into the hemolymph, which is the fruit fly equivalent to blood in the circulatory system. Using Excel, students will fit an exponential function to the few known data points and will then interpolate the missing data points and extrapolate a few future data points. They will also learn how they can fit a linear model by transforming the data (applying the logarithmic function) and use that model to estimate the missing data points. This activity involves both statistical analysis and mathematical modeling as well as displaying the usefulness of mathematical models for biological data analysis.