On Saturday 18th February, the Department of Biochemistry hosted a range of exciting activities under the banner of “Life at the Microscopic Scale” at the Science Bazaar Beyond festival hosted in Oxford Brookes Headington Campus.
Over 2,500 visitors came through the doors during the day to visit the stalls and see the timed events, which included crocodiles and “Hunting the Higgs” with the Ministry of Sense. We had a lot of visitors of all ages asking questions about proteins, cells, DNA, and microscopes with excited faces as they peered down the eyepiece. Lots of children came away with DNA origami and DNA sequence bracelets, all while learning about the genetic code and DNA repair.
Hosted by volunteers from the department and elsewhere, the steady stream of visitors got the chance to hear from real-life researchers about their work and what life really is like at the microscopic scale. More photos will be broadcast via their Twitter page or via the link above. Thank you to the Davis Lab and the Biochemistry Teaching labs for loan of the microscope!
These events are A LOT OF FUN and we have a range of activities available to use in the department so if you want to take part in any public engagement activities, contact Darragh Ennis (darragh.ennis@bioch.ox.ac.uk) who coordinates this and can add you to the Teams group.
What’s in a cell and DNA origami! More interactive activities for young attendees to see the DNA double helix, the shape of GFP, giant microbes, and the basic makeup of the cell
DNA: Life's Recipe Book poster board
The microscopy set up for the Science Bazaar! The big screen is showing a primordial germ cell on top of a migrating cell (actin is stained in green)
Crystals of lysozyme from the 96-well plate being image by a basic light microscope
What do cells look like under the microscope? The tablet on the teaching microscope shows DNA staining within an early stage mouse embryo
What do cells look like under the microscope? A confocal microscopy image of human induced pluripotent stem cells
