How should i test the effect of garlic on influenza cells?
I always hear people say that garlic is excellent for get over the flu or the common cold. SO i decided to test this theory for my science fair project. Problem is I don't know how!
Here's what I'm thinkin of so far...
1. Find one subject that is infected with the flu and concentrate on them (will also have another person who is not sick--as the control)
2. Take a sample of there mucus (ewww, i kno)
and thats where im stuck. I will be using a microscope to see how the cells are/arent affected, but how should i test the effect garlic has on it. Will making a garlic/water solution, to later add to the mucus cells, be appropriate? But then i would have to decide on the concentration of garlic vs. water and i just want to focus on the garlic and see if it has an effect.
PLEASE help! thanks a million.
Posted by Midatlantian
This is really too much for a response for a site like this, but:
Your first problem is that you seem not to understand the nature of influenze. it is a virus, and a virus is not what we consider to be a cell. It is just genetic material. It is able to get into a cell and interact with the internal mechanism of the cell in such a way that it takes over the cell. You can still not call this cell an influenza cell, it is an infected cell. but that is OK. You can do your experiment on the effect of garlic on cells infected with the influenza virus.
If you want to see how these cells behave in a garlic solution, well, you could take a bit of sputum from an infected person and make two slides, one in which it is mixed with raw garlic juice, and one in which it is not mixed. If you try that, and look at both samples through a microscope, you MAY notice that there is a difference.
But you are right that you need another sample from someone who is NOT infected, and you would need to make two slides for them too, to see what differences these cells might have with and without garlic.
Garlic may kill all the cells if it is too strong, so you will have to experiment to see what happens, and try to dilute it with distilled water (so you do not confuse the experiment with things that are in your local water).
You may find that you cannot see any difference at all.
But you will be doing real science, in that you will try something and look closely at your results, and try to make sense of these results.
Many scientists and researchers had ideas that they then spent years of research refining and turning into practical solutions. And many of the 'great discoveries' that we take for granted today went through such a process.
Good luck!
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