The SPS iGEM Team of 2015 hosted a genetic engineering workshop for students from the Faculty of Science on 5th August 2015, in the Active Learning Room and the SPS Wet Lab. The workshop aimed to equip science students with an understanding of both the techniques of synthetic biology, and its risks and rewards. Participants were given the opportunity to be immersed in both the theoretical and wet lab components of synthetic biology.
Students were first guided through the concepts of genetic engineering, and the available wet lab tools and techniques used. After some light refreshments, they then got a chance to try their hands at designing their very own gene vectors with a fun set of theoretical puzzles.
After lunch, the participants performed Fusion PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) and performed bacterial transformation in the SPS Wet Lab. They also had a look at green fluorescent protein (GFP) expressed in E. coli, as an example of one of the methods that are commonly used to quantify protein expression.
