Team:Tuebingen/schoolclassatlab
The field of synthetic biology is often dealt with in the media and often the possible consequences of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food is discussed highly controversial. One main reason for the high controversy is the lack of communication between researchers and the public. On September 17th, we invited 40 pupils in their final high-school year from the Mildred Scheel Schule Böblingen to our institute. Our aim was to introduce the practical and theoretical background of synthetic biology, our work and discuss related topics. In the practical part of the school@lab day we teached some widely used methods like PCR and restriction digestion.
We performed an experiment to prove the existence of CRY1Ab, a corn gene that encodes for a delta-endotoxin. These CRY-toxins form pores, which are naturally produced by Bacillus thuringiensis. Their incorporation into the corn genome helps to perish the European corn borer, a corn parasite, during corn cultivation as these CRY-toxins have a insecticidal effect.
In the theoretical part we gave an overview to synthetic biology and introduced widely used methods. We tried to demonstrate insights into the implications of GMOs and gene technology in general. In the practical part we extracted DNA from food samples, which were used for PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction). The PCR products were then separated via agarose gel electrophoresis to check on CRY1Ab. Restriction digestion was used to identify one out of five given plasmids.
This little exercise on the interpretation of scientific data, and the test on the cry1A(b)-gene were well received by the pupils as they were able to figure out what it is like to analyze their own results and draw conclusions from that. We discussed together what might have gone wrong and what information they got from the corn samples.They were excited to learn methods like PCR and gel electrophoresis, because such experiments are usually not carried out in school. Especially the loading of an agarose gel was very fascinating for them and led to a lot of questions concerning the theoretical background.
The pupils learned how to interpret scientific data and test for CRY1Ab was used to teach analysis of their own results and draw conclusions from it. We discussed possible errors and what information they obtained from the corn samples. The pupils were excited to learn new methods as such experiments are usually not carried out in school. The experiments led to a lot of questions concerning the theoretical background and resulted in a vivid discussion.