Synapse - Imperial College

Synapse was a one-day workshop event held at Imperial College London on 7 June 2015. In biology, a synapse is where two cells come

synapse 2

together and communicate with each other. In the same way, this workshop brought girls aged 10-17 together with scientists for a day full of science communication, fun and learning. The participants were girls from Guide units in London (8th Hanwell Guides and 8th Acton Guides). Synapse allowed the girls to experience immunology through hands-on activities in the Wohl Reach Out Lab at Imperial College London as well as through direct engagement with scientists currently working at the university. This event was designed to foster interest in science in general and immunology in particular, at an especially important time for girls as they select their GCSE and A levels subjects. The day was a great success, with 30 participants and eight contributing scientists from the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London.

Highlights of the day included:

synapse 3

It’s in your genes – A hands-on activity involving DNA extraction from strawberries and staining cheek swabs to observe the cell nucleus.

How do they get there? – An interactive workshop on how the vascular system works and how inflammatory cells and blood vessels interact to fight off infection.

See it happen –This activity was a video presentation on the development of mi croscopy, from the simple light microscope to intravital and super resolution imaging, as well as a brief introduction to flow cytometry and how vaccines work.

Growing and dividing – A hands-on demonstration in the Wohl Reach Out Lab on cell culture techniques including freezing eggs in dry ice and liquid nitrogen and observing live cells in culture.

Other activities included making DNA models from sweets at lunch on the Queen’s Lawn at Imperial College London and a session in the afternoon using French knitting to build a model of a vascular bed – this activity has previously been used in the Blood Lines exhibit at the Green Man Festival, the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum. The art work resulting from this activity has been donated to the participating Guide Units, the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London, and to our generous sponsor, the British Society for Immunology.

synapse

Article by Jill Johnson, 8th Hanwell Guides

Your browser is out-of-date!

Update your browser to view this website correctly. Update my browser now

×