On the morning of Monday, May 15, 2017, Dr. Dean A. Strand was found dead by Principal Chris Botts in one of the back science galleys of Maize High School. The cause of death is unknown at this time. The databases below contain the confidential details related to this crime scene.
This is the transcript of the 911 call received at 6:30 a.m. on Monday, May 15, 2017 from Mr. Chris Botts, Principal of Maize High School.
HELP! Hurry! There is a dead man in one of our science storage rooms! (Botts) I’m sorry, sir, where is your location? (Dispatcher) Hurry! Maize High School! He has no pulse and has apparently been dead for some time! (Botts) I’m sorry, sir, you’re going to have to slow down. He doesn’t have a pulse? Do you see any visible signs of injury? (Dispatcher) Correct, he does not have a pulse. He has a little bit of blood around his mouth. (Botts) We are on our way. (Dispatcher) - 6:33am |
The photograps below were taken prior to the medics' arrival to transport the deceased to the morgue. After you have completed the tasks below, you will receive the password to this password-protected Sedgwick County Medical Examiner & Coroner's report: CORONER'S REPORT |
Skill One: DNA FingerprintingBefore attempting to begin any DNA evidence collection from the crime scene, preview What Every Law Enforcement Officer Should Know About DNA Evidence, developed under an award from the Office of Justice Program's National Institute of Justice.
Step One: Learn how to do a complete Electrophoresis Lab to prepare a DNA sample for analysis HERE. Step Two: Dr. Dean A. Strand's DNA was collected and analyzed using electrophoresis. He was found to have two different DNA sequences in his body! Explain how this could be! Investigate Dr. Dean A. Strand's personal history and work history.
MEDICAL RECORDS ***NOTE: Investigators, you must review HIPPA regulations here before accessing Dr. Dean's medical records.*** Stem Cell Therapy After being diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer, Dr. Dean A. Strand read a science article about research in which adult stems cells were able to kill lung cancer cells in mice. Not wanting to undergo chemotherapy or radiation therapy or to have the large portions of his lungs removed, he decided to contact the University College London’s UCL Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine in order to participate in experimental stem cell therapy for lung cancer. In this experimental therapy, being conducted in cooperation with PhD Candidate in Stem Cell Biology, Mrs. Amy Hammett (also a faculty member in the Maize High School Biology department), Dr. Strand’s lungs were injected with the foreign DNA of embryonic stem cells. Dr. Dean A. Strand’s medical transcripts are located here: Medical Transcripts - Dean A. Strand.pdf Step Three: After you have collected enough evidence to warrant issuing a warrant for suspects' DNA, you can collect their DNA. See Mrs. Hammett for details. |
Skill Two: A Family PedigreeDr. Dean A. Strand was diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer this past year. He has never smoked nor have any members of his immediate family. However, several members of his father’s family, including his father, had been diagnosed and died from lung cancer. At the time of Dean’s lung cancer diagnosis, his tumor underwent genomic profiling to inform his treatment decisions and his tumor was found to have an EGFR gene mutation.
Until the time of his diagnosis, Dean was in very good health, always took good care of himself physically, was not overweight, and never smoked. Given his strong family history of lung cancer, Dean always was careful not to smoke and to limit his exposure to second-hand smoke. Additionally, Dean had routinely talked with his healthcare provider about his family history of lung cancer, and whether he should undergo screening for lung cancer routinely for early detection. However, Dean was told that lung cancer is predominately environmental in origin, that it is associated with smoking or other environmental exposures. Routine screening was not recommended. Dean is concerned that he has more advanced disease because he had never undergone screening. Dean was highly motivated to learn more about this finding because of his strong family history of lung cancer and whether testing in his children could reveal whether or not they are at increased risk. Knowing that researchers were able to develop a clinical model to estimate the pretest probability of lung cancer based on 1198 pedigrees in China, his goal was to figure out who is at risk in his family and be sure they are undergoing lung cancer screening. Pedigree Construction Step One: Construct a three generation pedigree for Dean based on his family history information using the Surgeon General's My Family Health Portrait Tool at www.hhs.gov/familyhistory. Step Two: Describe how drawing out the pedigree helps identify patterns in the health history and why it is important to use standard pedigree symbols. Use this family history to prepare the pedigree for Dr. Dean A. Strand. |
Skill Three: Tracking Mutations in Protein Synthesis --> CancerApproximately 10% of patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) in the U.S. and 35% in East Asia have tumors due to mutations of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene.
According to the National Institute of Health, the EGFR gene provides instructions for making a receptor protein called the epidermal growth factor receptor, which spans the cell membrane so that one end of the protein remains inside the cell and the other end projects from the outer surface of the cell. This positioning allows the receptor to attach (bind) to other proteins, called ligands, outside the cell and to receive signals that help the cell respond to its environment. Ligands and receptors fit together like keys into locks, and when they do fit together, signals within the cell are triggered that promote cell growth and division and cell survival. Nearly all these EGFR gene mutations are only present in cancer cells. They are found in Chromosome 7 of the human karyotype. (Learn more about EGFR gene mutations by clicking here.) Step One: Transcribe, on your own paper or on your Honors Biology website, the EGFR gene sequences found here, in which a CAG sequence is changed to CAA. (NOTE: The sequence on top in the image is normal, and the sequence on the bottom with the CAA is mutated.) Step Two: Transcribe the mRNA codons that correspond with both the normal sequence and with the mutated EGFR gene. Step Three: Translate the mRNA codons to anticodons in both the normal and the mutated strands. Step Four: Write the amino acid sequence that corresponds with the codons of both sequences. Step Five: Since the protein made from this chain of amino acids is a receptor which signals the cell to promote cell growth and division, explain whether or not this particular mutation in this sequence could lead to non-small lung cancer in someone who has never smoked a cigarette! Why or why not? |
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POSSIBLE SUSPECTS
Nothing can be assumed. Did Dr. Dean A. Strand die of natural causes? Did he die of a known or unknown medical condition? Or was there foul play involved in his death?
Interview the suspects below to rule them out - or to confirm them - as suspects.
Nothing can be assumed. Did Dr. Dean A. Strand die of natural causes? Did he die of a known or unknown medical condition? Or was there foul play involved in his death?
Interview the suspects below to rule them out - or to confirm them - as suspects.
- As Science Department Farm-to-School Sponsor, Mr. Super always envied Dr. Strand’s research in Botany.
- Mrs. Strand has left the country...making her wanted for questioning but nowhere to be found.
- Mr. Broadbent was caught on video cameras hastily leaving the school on Saturday.
- Coach Watkins is well-known for his bouts of rage against ignorance, and Dr. Strand often exhibited this condition.
- Ms. Sasha Chapek had been holding private social work sessions with Dr. Strand, but no one knows just why.
- Ms. Houseman always liked Dr. Strand...maybe even a little too much.
- Mr. Albin was uncharacteristically nervous during questioning.
- Ms. Kathleen Thomas was very upset when the bird that she and Dr. Strand brought home from Acapulco started saying Mrs. Shurts' name instead...
- Coach Hammett has longtime been suspected by investigators as a sociopath.
- Ms. Shurts has been seen messing around with Ms. Thomas’s boyfriend - Dr. Dean A. Strand.
- Mr. Bergkamp suspects that Dr. Dean A. Strand was stealing some of his science supplies.