Difference between revisions of "Team:Mingdao/Education"

We've attended an iGEM team interact conference held by National Chiao Tung University (UCTU) on June 30th. With the participation of National Tsing Hua University(NTHU) and Chang Gung University(CGU) , this interaction seemed so interesting and we had an absolutely marvelous time spending together talking over our topics. Mingdao iGEM team actually benefited so much from those great iGEM teams, it's worth noting that the lively discussion we had made inspired us of a brand new thoughts. We really appreciated that UCTU gave us this opportunity to communicate with those brilliant iGEM teams.

Electrophoresis is a very important technique in molecular biology to analyze bigger molecules such as protein, DNA, and RNA. Today, we presented this technique to the students at Mingdao. Due to limited time, we told the participants to just follow our protocols and gave them a quick and loose description of the technique. After loading all the samples onto the agarose gel, we had one of our teammates explain the fundamental principle and the application of it, thus making the participants better understand what they had just done and what results to expect later. After the presentation, the results of experiment were ready to be unveiled. We analyzed the results to the participants, and they were amazed by the fluorescence displayed under the purple light. At last, the participants all understood how gel electrophoresis qorked and were happy about the experience in the lab with us.

In order to raise public understanding of biotechnology, we gave lessons about molecular biology. Because DNA extraction is one of the most fundamental but important building block of molecular biology, we decided to start off with this experiment. In the beginning of the lesson, one of our members introduced the principle and the procedure of DNA extraction to give everyone a clear idea of the experiment before actually starting it. With a bigger picture in mind already, the students could have more time enjoying the interesting experiment and not bothered by the complexity of it. Later on, we divided the participants into groups of three, with two iGEM team members leading them in each step and explaining the principles. After the experiment, everyone successfully extracted the DNA! We believe that even if students hadn’t been fully understood the principle, they would now have a better understanding towards molecular biology. We hope that this experience would lead these students onto the journey of molecular biology.

As the technology festival approached, our team arranged a lecture to introduce iGEM to our fellow students, hoping to deliver the concept of iGEM. We divided it into four sections: an overview, annual awarded projects, human practices, and rewards. We briefly explained the reasons we participated in iGEM and its importance. To make the audience understand more details about iGEM, we showed them a few awarded projects in the past years. Afterwards, we elaborated on the necessity of human practice and made the audience understand that science technology should be developed with cooperation instead of working alone. The lecture went very well and the audience showed their enthusiasm and eagerness. Hopefully, our team members can express our enthusiasm and faith towards iGEM continually.