Last Saturday a group of people from EWRE-UTBiome participated at the event "Introduce a Girl to Engineering". In spite of the cold weather, more than 6000 girls (probably closer to 8000) came and enjoy all the activities organized in campus. We hosted an activity aimed at explaining what DNA is, what can be used for in engineering, relationships with easily recognizable human features, and actually extracting DNA through a simple process. We also tested participants and their parents regarding sensitivity to PTC, that is aversion to cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts...)
It was a very interesting experience. More than 120 young and potentially future 'sciencegineers' participated in our activity. I would say >99% of them showed an incredible interest and enthusiasm. They loved the fact they could take home the DNA they extracted in a tube on a necklace/wristband. Understanding the connection between DNA, proteins and phenotype was also a highlight! Some of them understood why they did not like broccoli (at least at first).
I attach in this post our posters in case they can be of help, and some pics from the event.
Thanks Michal for helping organizing and thanks Runnan, Sarah and Allison (EWRE alumni) for organizing and attending the 6-h long event.
