Cancer cells have different properties in groups than they do solo, including greater risk of metastasis — establishing in parts of the body far from a tumor’s origin. CSUN Biology Professor Emeritus Steven Oppenheimer has built large-scale student research projects around testing of chemical agents that can break up cellular clumps, and the latest result of that work is now published in the American Journal of Applied Scientific Research.
The paper new presents extensive testing of sodium sulfate as a possible anti-clumping agent, using yeast cells as a model for aggregates of cancer cells. A total of 17 undergraduate researchers contributed to 1,212 trials across different time-series and conditions, and participated as coauthors in the preparation of the paper.