NCI @ Frederick/ Frederick National Laboratory
AI and Organelles Internship Project
Background
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A cohort of 25-50 students will be selected for the project
Students are required to work 1.5 hrs./day, segmenting the images presented to
them on the portal at the project link.
Student will receive one credit as a science internship.
This internship project is for one semester but may be extended up to a full
academic year.
Start date aligns with school semester.
Students will be evaluated on the number and quality of segmentations.
o This feedback will be provided to the teacher of record/work-based learning
coordinator for credit/grading purposes.
If selected, student will be notified by Monday, August 26th and will be required to
attend a 1 hr. zoom lecture/kick-off information session prior to beginning the
project.
How to Apply
1. If interested in participating in this project, please apply here:
https://forms.office.com/g/gS1HfC1SQ2
• The deadline to apply is Sunday, August 25th.
2. If selected for the project, you will be notified by Monday, August 26th and will
receive an email with further instructions.
• Student must confirm their participation with their work-based learning
coordinator.
• Student will be required to make any changes needed to their school
schedule to account for a science internship.
• If selected, the student will be given directions on how to register at
https://www.zooniverse.org/ and create their user name and profile.
Project Overview
Teach an AI algorithm about what organelles in cells look like!
In this two-part project we are focusing on two important organelles – the nucleus and
mitochondria. Every eukaryotic cell has a nucleus - the nucleus is important because it contains
DNA that encodes all the other components in the cell. We are sure you high school students know
what a nucleus is, but here is a short youtube video about nuclei. Similarly, you know that nearly
every cell in your body contains hundreds to thousands of mitochondria (did your brain immediately
went "Mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell” ? and if your brain didn't do that, check out this clip
for a refresher).
These tiny structures are indeed incredibly important: every cell in your body must have a nucleus
to store its genetic code and tell it what to do! Similarly, mitochondria are responsible for converting
the food you eat into the energy you need to survive. You couldn't live without either of these
organelles, and when dysfunctional they can be markers of disease. You may have seen cartoons of
nuclei and mitochondria in textbooks: nuclei are often depicted as bumpy circles, whereas
mitochondria are shown as kidney beans with squiggly lines inside. In real life, each nucleus and
mitochondrion looks very different and unique. So you can imagine each one that you encounter is
probably going to look very little like any other. And that's where we need your help.
This project has two parts – in the first we need you to identify nuclei in images of cells, and
in the second, mitochondria. We have created an online portal that allows you to accurately identify
these organelles in images taken by advanced instruments called electron microscopes. Specifically,
we need you to use the pen tool to outline the boundaries of the nuclei or mitochondria - even if they
are only partially captured - in a series of images of cells captured at very high magnifications. Your
effort will help us better understand cell biology and help train computers to analyze new data. Using
an AI approach called “deep learning”, we are training advanced computational algorithms to
recognize either nuclei or mitochondria automatically, accurately and quickly. We have used electron
microscopes at the Center for Molecular Microscopy at the Frederick National Lab and National
Cancer Institute to capture a vast number of completely different cell types. Combining these images
with human training – YOU! – we aim to make our computer algorithm much more robust.
(Left) textbook view of mitochondria – simple kidney beans.
(Right) What mitochondria can look like in real life – they are complex!
(Bottom) These are all nuclei from different cells – they can look quite different!
Kedar Narayan, Summer 2024