Please in this type of scenario how is the discussion of my result going to be?
Is it in favour of downregulation or upregulation
When we talk about gene expression, we often use a measure called the Ct value in a technique called quantitative PCR. This value tells us at which cycle a sample's reaction shows the detection of a specific piece of genetic material. A lower Ct value means there's more of the target genetic material, and a higher Ct value suggests less or some issues.
For something like SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, the Ct value can be linked to the amount of viral genetic material present. So, if both a control group and a treated group show an increase in gene expression based on their Ct values, it seems like there's more viral genetic material in both.
However, the fold change, which compares the gene expression of the treated group to the control group, might show a decrease. This could mean that, relatively speaking, the gene expression in the treated group is lower when compared to the control group or a reference gene. There are several reasons why this might happen, including various biological factors or issues in the PCR process.
In simpler terms, even if the Ct values go up in both groups (indicating more viral genetic material), the fold change could go down, suggesting a relative decrease in gene expression. This could be due to a range of factors that affect the PCR process.
Citations:
[1] https://bitesizebio.com/24581/what-is-a-ct-value/
[2] https://publichealthproviders.sccgov.org/sites/g/files/exjcpb951/files/Documents/FAQs-CT-values-from-covid-19-PCR-tests.pdf
[3] https://www.thermofisher.com/blog/behindthebench/understanding-ct-values/
[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7386165/
[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9562486/
- Badges
- Science topic