Genome Campus Visit

On Wednesday 7^th June, the Form 4 Authentic Biology Club went on a trip to the Wellcome Genome Campus near Cambridge. It is where a significant part of the human genome was sequenced. Even though the way to Cambridge was very long and tiring, we enjoyed this unique experience immensely.

After a quick introduction to the campus, we had a talk by Dr Hilary Browne on sequencing the gut microbiota which is being used to identify bacteria in poo for medical treatments! One of the many interesting facts that we learned was that bacterial spores can survive in almost any situation for up to three weeks and be passed from human to human who come into come into contact with the spores! When he finished, we had a short lunch break (where we were generously offered biscuits and tea).

After that, we had a talk and a tour of the Genome Campus. We saw the process of genome sequencing (confusing flashing blue lights), the place where the information was stored (high tech sci-fi huge important looking computer things that featured another set of confusing flashing lights), and we were even fortunate enough to (briefly) crash a scientific meeting with loads of important scientists from all round the world.

The Authentic Biology Club (image by Chimin Techakul)