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Revision as of 03:34, 2 October 2012

Outreach

Gaston Day School hosts an event called the International Festival each year. For our outreach project, we set up a booth at the festival to educate people in how basic genetic engineering works using our iGEM project from last year as an example. The booth also functioned as a minor source of funding for our team.

We had two stations, one which had plasmid models for people to “build” their own BioBricks, and one where participants made a DNA necklace. For the model station, we had rings of brightly colored cardstock to represent reporters, promoters, and backbones. We asked people to come pick one of each part and then cut out and tape the parts together to mirror the process of digestion and ligation that our iGEM team used. The activity helped students understand what genetic engineering is through a simplified model. Pictures are shown below of "our poject" This "BioBrick" produces produces GFP in the presence of Arsenic.

For our second booth we asked people to contribute one dollar to create “DNA necklaces” that consisted of isolated DNA from Wheat Germ. Each participant isolated wheat germ DNA for their own necklace. The demonstration allowed others to take part in the process of DNA isolation and also keep their own souvenir. This portion of the booth attracted many of the younger students, generating early interest in DNA and in the things one can do with DNA.

Here are the directions we gave each participant:

1. Get a cup with 1 – 2 grams of raw wheat germ

2. Add 20 ml hot water and swirl for about 2 min.

3. Add 1 ml of detergent using a dropper

4. Swirl to mix (be gentle)

5. Slowly pour about 15 ml of cold 91% isopropanol onto the top of the water    

a. Make a layer of alcohol on top of the water

6. DNA is the white stringy stuff that collects where the isopropanol and the water touch

7. Use a dropper to collect the DNA and squirt it into a tube

8. We will spin the DNA into a pellet at the bottom of the tube and add a string for the necklace!