Asr help

[HellzDungeon]

Im in a program in my school thats called ASR.
It stands for Authentic Science Research.
What is is during my high school years of 10-12 grade, i must do research, with a help of a mentor, about a topic of my choice, and at the end of my senior year, will present my findings for a total of 12 college credits (WOOT, thats alot!!!)
I have some questions for those who are knowledgeable about CP research. My subject of research choice is the study of conine in nepenthes nectar, and how it could be used as medication. It is just a thought, and can always be changed, so here are my questions.
1: Has anyone ever studied this topic before?
2: What Nepenthes species make the most conine in their nectar?
3: Do you know anyone who can be a possible mentor?
Anything will be helpful to me,
Thanks in advanced,
Hellz

 

[swords]

Sounds like an interesting study. I do not think the actual effects of Conine has been studied but reports I've read suggest (but do not prove) that it may act as an intoxicant or cause vertigo/instability in the insects who feed on it. I can say personally that when I taste the nectar secreted by N. sanguinea it seems to have a tingly feeling on my tongue more so than N. bicalcarata which tastes like clear corn syrup. But I do not experience any sort of effects in such a minute dosage.
Real scientific I know!

Before starting you will first need to find out the molecular string of Conine. If it is a published chemical name then it should be able to found somewhere, just where I'm not sure. Perhaps you could contact the larger Botanical institutions who have dealings in Nepenthes such as Kew RBG or Liden BG to find out if they have and records on the molecular string of Conine. Perhaps they will even have some info pertaining to Conine content of certain species?

Then you must acquire samples of nectar produced from as many different species as possible. I don't know how much would be needed for a rudimentary chemical analysis perhaps only a single drop considreing what they can do with DNA testing these days (each test will be expensive). Then you must find someone with proper lab equiptment and knowledge/ability to extract the Conine content in the solution and then compare values of the different species. This requires finding out what chemicals react to bring out the Conine from the solution.

Finally after all that, you'll need to find out a way to synthesize or create enough of a dose that could be used for something. Or find an already manufactured (or illicit) drug that has simlar molecular attributes and you would be able to draw primitive hypothetical parallels and see what Conine may or may not effect. Then there would need to be the testing on animals or people... But remember that whatever effects it may have on insects is still effecting a creature many hundreds (or thousands) of times smaller than ourselves, so any dose would need to be replicated on an enormous scale to be useful on a human sized subject.

It will be interesting to see where your research leads you! Good luck!

 

[Kirkscoastalcarnivores]

wow! that's awesome! If you do find something out be sure to post here