Team:CMUQ/PublicEngagement
Our Outreach Efforts:
Although social media is taking over most of the communication methods, we still believe in the power of the word of mouth. It all began when some of our team members were casually talking to their upperclassmen, and iGEM came up. The upperclassmen who participated last year were passionately yet tiredly explaining what they were researching and how the team is functioning. Their hustle could not go unnoticed, they ran from labs to computer and whiteboards. We were inspired, and we applied to be a part of the iGEM CMUQ team… and here we are today an interdisciplinary team of 12… populating our wiki, putting puzzle pieces together, and discussing what is the next step…
We were thus spreading the word by running two outreaches in the university on Saturdays which allowed students from multiple high schools to explore synthetic biology, and get introduced to iGEM.
WHO DID IT? On Saturday, September 22th, 2018
We hosted a workshop of high school students and allowed them to be forensic scientists… because who said biology is suspense-free? Little do people know about the anxiety, the enthusiasm, the disappointments and the findings scientists experience in research. Students had the opportunity to go through a blink of that interesting environment by examining DNA fingerprinting pattern using agarose gel electrophoresis.
Setting: On the night of September 20th, 2014, Samer’s secretary found him lying on the floor in his office after working late one night, strangled to death. The only piece of evidence found was the rope used to commit the crime. Skin cells found on the rope were used as a source of DNA from the crime scene. The DNA analyzed showed that it did not belong to the victim. After a lengthy investigation, the police interviewed many close friends and co-workers and narrowed these down to 5 primary suspects for the crime. Each was required to provide a DNA sample for testing.
Victim: Samer Mohammad, a wealthy businessman and philanthropist, originally
born in Saudi Arabia, had moved to Qatar in 1985 and prospered, earning a good reputation as a businessman and became quite wealthy and influential over the past 25 years.
To check the full crime record please click here
To check the full crime record please click here
DNA MASHUP! On Saturday, October 13th, 2018
In order to analyze the DNA, you first have to extract it. This simple DNA extraction procedure is quick, easy. Since DNA can be isolated from any source—spinach, chicken liver, onions, broccoli, peas, etc. In this lab, the blending breaks down the strawberries into cells, the detergent ruptures the cells, releasing DNA, RNA and proteins, and the protease is an enzyme which breaks down unwanted proteins that are in solution with the DNA.
