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Team:TU Munich/Human Practice/School Visit
From 2012.igem.org
Contents |
School Visit
Article written by a pupil of the school magazine
On July, 24 2012 two students of the iGEM (international Genetically Engineered Machine competition)-Team of the TU Munich visited us. We attended an interesting presentation about this competition which takes place in Boston since 2003 and they explained us that their research goal is to manipulate the DNA in such a way that the cells get other characteristics. The project of the team is to manipulate yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) to produce useful ingredients naturally on his own. As we all know, yeast is normally used for baking and brewing beer. Their goal is to transform normal yeast into "superyeast". Therefore herbal enzymes in the form of external DNA will be inserted in the yeast. But buying a beer brewed with "superyeast" in a supermarket is very unlikely. Anyway we produced with the students of the TUM our own chemical beer, which one should not drink.
They also explained us, that iGEM does not only include the work in the laboratory but also the so called “Human Practice”. “Human Practice” means anything that is done in the context of the project outside the lab. Finally their visit was part of their "Human Practice" programm.
The first experiment, they made with us, was DNA-extraction from plants. This meant, that we squished a banana to destroy the cells. Then we mixed it with salt and dish liquid to destroy the membrane of the cell, and added isopropyl alcohol at the end. After a while we could see the DNA. Afterwards we did another experiment: a gel electrophoresis. That is a common method to detect DNA. We poured the gel for the electrophoresis. This can't be done in school in this way, because we don't have the right equipment for it. For the gel electrophoresis we used a completed gel, that was made by another class.
We were not only informed about DNA but also about enzymes. Therefore we squished again some fruits (this time pineapple and kiwi). We put pineapple, kiwi and pineapple juice into bowls and added gummy bears. The enzymes in the pineapple juice can decompose the gelatin of gummy bears. Unfortunately we couldn’t see the result, because it should rest 24 hours and, of course, we forgot to look again.
Anyway the day was very interesting for us and we learned a lot about iGEM, the DNA and the way enzymes work.
Text by Corinna (16 years, student)
The school we visited
We visited the Joseph-Bernahrt-Gymnasium in Türkheim. About 900 pupils go to this school, located in the beautiful region "Allgäu" in Bavaria. We visited a 10th grade biology and an 11th grade chemistry class, each for the duration of two hours. This is the link to the homepage of the school [http://www.gymnasium-tuerkheim.de/] and this [http://www.spickzettel-jbg.de/] to the school magazine.
Why we came
Of course children are our future. This sentence is used a lot of times these days, but it is not the only reason why we drove almost 100 km to a school at 7 o'clock in the morning. One member of our team did her university-entrance diploma at this school and always kept it in mind as a good school. When we wrote to the school and asked for a visit the response of the teachers was amazing. Although we came at the very end of the school year, two teachers invited us to their courses. Moreover the pupils were excited about the experiments we made with them and they had a lot of questions. Explaining our project to pupils was a nice experience for us and for them. They were really interested in the broad spectrum of possibilities in science that is available nowadays and asked us many questions about our university and our fields of study.
What we did
We made four different experiments with the classes. First we did chemical brewing, then we extracted DNA from fruits. Another experiment was testing enzymes from fruits, by "destroying" a gummy bear with it and last but not least we did a gel electrophoresis. Here you can see our short presentation File:TUM-schoolpresentation.pdf
Chemical Brewing
It is based on several redox reactions, which in the end produces "yellow-brown" Iodine. Here you can see a video from this experiment produced by another school.[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp0ayLGJNe4]
DNA extraction from fruits
We used bananas to extract DNA from it. First the fruit was smashed, then dish liquid and salt were added. Last but not least we put the "mush" in a glass already filled with isopropanol. After 20 min we could see the DNA as white striation.
Enzymes from fruit
We used pineapple, apple and kiwi juice. Pineapple juice contains bromelain, which disintegrates the bonds within the gummy bear and therefore dissolves it within 12 hours. As a control Coca-Cola was used.
Gel Electrophoresis
As last experiment, we did a complete gel electrophoresis with the class. First we poured an agarose gel, added a marker and turned on the electricity. The marker split up in two different colors (blue and purple) after about one hour. While waiting, we discussed the use of this method forensics and biology.
Finally, we wanted to show the students the application of gel electrophoresis in criminalistics. Therefore, we showed them a simplified gel picture with the DNA pattern of three suspects and the DNA pattern from the DNA sample collected at a "site of crime". The class directly spotted the guilty suspect among the lines visible on the gel and explained correctly why it is possible to identify the correct suspect based on the gel photo.
Declaration of consent
In Germany it is not that easy to publish pictures made at school from children. Therefore we made an Informationletter for the parents with a part that is to be signed when we are allowed to share the pictures. File:Declaration.pdf The school supported us here too.
