Video Description: Researchers at the University of Missouri discovered how a cancer-critical enzyme is positioned on cell surfaces and is helping to spread cancer throughout the body. The breakthrough is an important step toward the development of pharmaceuticals in the fight against cancer. Steven Van Doren, a professor of biochemistry at the University of Missouri, is leading this new approach. His weapons include a computer and a 10 foot tall, 800 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer, the most powerful one in the state of Missouri. Van Doren and his colleagues use it to observe how a specific enzyme affects tumor cells in the human body, helping them to spread.

• Use the video as students engage in a STEM activity related to medical or scientific research or as part of your study of the human body and health.
• Use the video as an example of scientific research before students engage in their own “scientific study” activity that you create or they develop as an independent project.
• Have students make a list of new vocabulary heard in the video or create a list of vocabulary words for students to listen for as they view the video.