Overlooked Covariates in Metabolite Abundance Levels: Systematically Quantifying the Information Overlap Between Gene Expression and Metabolism Across Multiple Cancer Types
Thomas Yu-Tong Cong investigated the rapid growth of certain cancers and whether information controlling metabolism is primarily controlled by the expression of genetic information as is widely assumed. He found that immune cancers have pronounced differences in metabolism and gene expression, which suggests that a more complex landscape of metabolic variation exists and gives further insight into cancer studies.
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Thomas Yu-Tong Cong, 17, of Ossining, researched the rapid growth of certain types of cancers and wondered whether information needed to control metabolism is primarily conveyed by expression of genes for his Regeneron Science Talent Search computational biology and bioinformatics project. For drug developers, metabolic pathways have traditionally been a prime target, so Thomas aimed to evaluate that premise and found it questionable.
He applied a statistical framework he developed to large cancer metabolism datasets, and he was able to systematically isolate the intersection between information transcribed from genes and the metabolic machinery those genes are responsible for. He concluded that factors like the cancer’s tissue of origin, its surrounding environment in the body, and how many cancer cells there are in a mass, strongly influence metabolic signatures. This suggests that a more complex landscape of metabolic variation exists.
The son of Guojing Cong and Min Qu, Thomas is a Yale Book Award winner. He attends Ossining High School where he heads the cross-country team and swims competitively in the 200m medley relay, the 100m breaststroke, and the 200m and 400m freestyle relays.
Beyond the Project
Thomas spent the summer of 2021 researching three fields, cancer treatment, black holes, and artificial intelligence. After he became most interested in cancer treatment, he started this project.
FUN FACTS: Thomas collects playing cards. He is fascinated by the unique design of the backs as well as the face cards. His favorite is the classic Bicycle Rider Backs in red.
