The MRC-PPU at The Dundee Science Festival!
What do science and fun have in common? A lot it turns out – as visitors abundantly discovered on their recent visit to The Dundee Science Centre for Family Fun Day on November 2nd, all a part of 2014 the Dundee Science Festival.
Scientists from the MRC-PPU and University of Dundee College of Life Sciences were there in full-force to inform the public about the studies that are so critical to moving forward research around human diseases that affect millions – including cancer and neurodegenerative disease such as Parkinson's disease. As a part of the one of the events organized by the MRC-PPU - The Wonders of the Brain: Big and Small! - visitors were encouraged to partake in a trivia challenge, all as they journeyed through the exhibit where they learned about the brain, touched a squishy example (made of gelatin, of course!), viewed models from different species, and evaluated example MRIs and illustrations that highlighted changes that occur during disease. The games that were a part of this exhibit were also a great hit as children matched neurotransmitter ‘vesicles' with the proper receptor, made neurons out pipe-cleaner, made their very own thinking caps and ‘trained their brain' using memory and motor games.
In Help the Scientists Beat Cancer! children were encouraged to learn about different kinds of cells (and even made their very own to take home) before moving on to discovering what makes cancerous cells differ from normal ones and helping to destroy them. This concluded with the youngsters identifying creative ways to stop ‘bad proteins' inside cells that often turn normal healthy cells into cancer cells. They quickly discovered that it's not so easy to do when many of the bad proteins are similar to good proteins one would not want to stop. In the end, they prevailed and were able to create structures that selectively targeted these bad proteins – and hopefully came away with a better understanding and appreciation for the research path that many of the volunteers are treading in their pursuit to help in the fight against cancer and other diseases.
Volunteers for the 2014 Dundee Science Festival from The MRC-PPU and University of Dundee included: Kirsten Airey, George Allen, Arno Alpi, Florence Chang, Giuliana Clemente, Claudia Conte, Tim Cummins, Sonal Das, Laura Feeney, Rosalia Fernandez-Alonso, Alexandra Hale, Thomas Hochdorfer, Axel Knebel, Atul Kumar, Hannah Leech, Olivia Lombardi, Daniel Mariyappa, Tom McWilliams, Villo Muha, Miratul Muqit, Michael Munson, Shalini Pathak, Laia Pedro-Roig, Mark Peggie, Katy Petherick, Nicola Philips, Catherine Rodger, Sam Strickson, Olga Suska, Rachel Toth, Josh Wong and Ning Zhang. Without their suggestions, insight and investment in time, these events would not have been possible.
Scientists from the MRC-PPU and University of Dundee College of Life Sciences were there in full-force to inform the public about the studies that are so critical to moving forward research around human diseases that affect millions – including cancer and neurodegenerative disease such as Parkinson's disease. As a part of the one of the events organized by the MRC-PPU - The Wonders of the Brain: Big and Small! - visitors were encouraged to partake in a trivia challenge, all as they journeyed through the exhibit where they learned about the brain, touched a squishy example (made of gelatin, of course!), viewed models from different species, and evaluated example MRIs and illustrations that highlighted changes that occur during disease. The games that were a part of this exhibit were also a great hit as children matched neurotransmitter ‘vesicles' with the proper receptor, made neurons out pipe-cleaner, made their very own thinking caps and ‘trained their brain' using memory and motor games.
In Help the Scientists Beat Cancer! children were encouraged to learn about different kinds of cells (and even made their very own to take home) before moving on to discovering what makes cancerous cells differ from normal ones and helping to destroy them. This concluded with the youngsters identifying creative ways to stop ‘bad proteins' inside cells that often turn normal healthy cells into cancer cells. They quickly discovered that it's not so easy to do when many of the bad proteins are similar to good proteins one would not want to stop. In the end, they prevailed and were able to create structures that selectively targeted these bad proteins – and hopefully came away with a better understanding and appreciation for the research path that many of the volunteers are treading in their pursuit to help in the fight against cancer and other diseases.
Volunteers for the 2014 Dundee Science Festival from The MRC-PPU and University of Dundee included: Kirsten Airey, George Allen, Arno Alpi, Florence Chang, Giuliana Clemente, Claudia Conte, Tim Cummins, Sonal Das, Laura Feeney, Rosalia Fernandez-Alonso, Alexandra Hale, Thomas Hochdorfer, Axel Knebel, Atul Kumar, Hannah Leech, Olivia Lombardi, Daniel Mariyappa, Tom McWilliams, Villo Muha, Miratul Muqit, Michael Munson, Shalini Pathak, Laia Pedro-Roig, Mark Peggie, Katy Petherick, Nicola Philips, Catherine Rodger, Sam Strickson, Olga Suska, Rachel Toth, Josh Wong and Ning Zhang. Without their suggestions, insight and investment in time, these events would not have been possible.