skip to content

Department of Genetics

 
None

The Department of Genetics Genes and Heredity event at the Cambridge Science Festival took place on Saturday 17th March 2018, and we had more visitors than we’ve ever had before!

This year we introduced a new activity - Exploring the use of DNA in forensic investigations.  Visitors had the chance to extract DNA from a strawberry and subsequently solve a mystery while learning about sequencing technologies.

Laura-SciFest2018-230sq.jpg unknown-liquid-scifest2018-230sq.jpg

The fruit fly activity returned with a twist.  In addition to observing flies under the microscope and understanding how they are used as model organisms in the lab, participants also learnt how fruit flies perceive the world via their senses.

The zebrafish activity tackled the stages of zebrafish embryogenesis with videos as well as real embryos.

The taste test station gave visitors the chance to investigate their bitter receptor genes by placing a PTC-infused paper strip on their tongue. Needless to say some enjoyed this more than others…

We also had a photographic matching game, where participants were tasked with matching descriptions to a wide range of scientific photographs.  This proved to be quite difficult, with the top score of the day of 13/15!