discussion
The aim of the experiment was to determine whether lauric acid affected the lipid droplet area in HeLa cells. Cells treated with the positive control, oleic acid, had signs of nuclear deformation and an increase in lipid droplet area. Lipid droplets formed were large in comparison with the experimental and negative control groups. The average area of lipid droplets is 69.9 a.u. and standard deviation is 129.0. The mean is larger than the means of the negative and experimental groups. The results of the oleic acid group were as expected; they align with prior research (Takir et al.). A theory to explain the larger size of lipid droplets in the oleic group is smaller lipid droplets gathered together due to the large number as observed qualitatively. The cells treated with the negative control, ethanol, formed little lipid droplets and had no signs of nuclear deformation. The average area of the lipid droplets is 8.6 a.u. and standard deviation is 4.1. The mean area is less than mean areas of those treated with a fatty acid. The results of the ethanol-only group were as expected. The cells treated with the experimental condition, lauric acid, formed lipid droplets and had no sign of nuclear deformation. Numerous lipid droplets were formed, and some lipid droplets were larger than those of the negative control group. The average area of the lipid droplets is 26.4 a.u. and standard deviation is 15.1. The mean area is less than the positive control and larger than the negative control, meaning lipid droplet area was increased by the lauric acid. As determined by the student’s t-test, all three conditions were significant of each other (p > 0.05). The hypothesis was supported due to the average area of lipid droplets in the experimental group being more than the average area of the negative control group, in which no lipid droplets were formed. We chose to test lauric acid on HeLa cells because it is a saturated fatty acid. An abundance of research and test involving HeLa cells have used unsaturated fatty acids. The difference between unsaturated and saturated fatty acids are the number of chemical bonds connecting the monomers. The results obtained will aid in future cancer cell research because lauric acid has not yet been tested on HeLa cells whereas oleic acid has an extensive amount of research and has had multiple test ran.