Team:Alverno CA/Human Practices
Alverno iGEM 2016
Human Practice
Four team members (Amanda, Katie, Asia, and Brianna) visited a local middle school and taught 60 seventh graders the basics of DNA and synthetic biology. They were able to extract DNA from strawberries using common household products. After this activity, the iGEM team members explained the results and answered the students’ questions. From this discussion period, the group was able to observe the students’ understanding of the project and their varying opinions. The four members asked the students what their thoughts were on the ethics and morals involved in synthetic biology. For a short period, contemporary advances of synthetic biology were discussed, comprising the future growth and possibilities of the rapidly proliferating field of study. Attached are links to our powerpoint and lab instructions.
Prospective students visited our school and we hosted a pipetting and synthetic biology workshop. We did this in order to inform the prospective students about our science department and our iGEM project and lab practices. Each middle school student was equipped with a P20 micropipette, lab coats, gloves, and mock-gels. After a demonstration by one of our teammates, and a brief explanation of how micropipettes are used in the lab, the students then practiced pipetting various volumes of red dye into the practice gels. This practice session was followed with a more in depth presentation of our iGEM project and the importance of synthetic biology.
