Saturday DNA! Sessions

The World Around Us

Dolan DNA Learning Center
Cold Spring Harbor, NY
Ages 10–13, one adult chaperone required

Join us to learn how to use microscopes and explore the hidden world around us!

In this microscopy lab, you’ll get the chance to explore hidden details of the world around you! Bring in a small, non-living (or not currently living) sample no larger than a dime that you would like to examine under the microscope. Don’t worry if you forget—we will have fun samples available for you to use. Join us to zoom in and discover amazing details you’ve never seen before!

In this session, participants will:

• learn to use compound and dissecting microscopes;
• compare and contrast living and non-living things;
• prepare microscope slides to visualize different cell types; and
• observe similarities and differences among organisms.

Bio Building

Dolan DNA Learning Center
Cold Spring Harbor, NY
Ages 10–13, one adult chaperone required

Join us to learn DNA barcoding and how LEGOs can simulate how scientists generate DNA sequences!

Calling all citizen scientists! Join us to contribute to global biodiversity databases, improve range maps, and help track species’ movements, as part of the DNA Learning Center’s Citizen DNA Barcode Network (CDBN). Extract DNA from an insect and use LEGOs to simulate how scientists generate DNA sequences to catalogue biodiversity around the world!

In this session, participants will:

• build “DNA Barcodes” out of LEGOs;
• simulate DNA sequencing using a LEGO sequencer;
• learn how DNA barcoding is used to identify living things; and
• isolate DNA that will be sequenced and published to a worldwide database!

Sour to Sweet: the Miraculin Effect!

DNA Learning Center NYC at City Tech
Brooklyn, NY
Ages 14 to adult, chaperones are welcome to participate but are not required

Join us at the DNALC NYC to explore our sense of taste!

A common theme in biology is the need for receptor activation to produce an effect. Immune responses, hormone pathways, and our sense of taste all function thanks to the help of a team of cell receptors. While these receptors often have specific activators, scientists have discovered both natural and synthetic compounds that can "trick" cell receptors into activating or deactivating a response. Join us to explore how different receptors work, with a specific focus on the TAS2R38 bitter taste receptor and the synthetic chemical PTC. We’ll also test the effect of miraculin —a protein from miracle berries that activates sweet taste receptors in response to acidic foods.

In this session, participants will:

• learn how different cell receptors work through models and examples;
• explore the relationship between genotype and phenotype of PTC tasting by conducting agarose gel electrophoresis and bioinformatic analyses of known taster and non-taster profiles;
• discuss how detection of mutations can lead to drug development targets;
• determine participant phenotype by tasting PTC; and
• trick taste buds with miraculin, then taste sour and acidic foods!

(Lemons and sour candy will be available, and participants can also bring their own foods to try.)

*Note, participants will not be using their own DNA in this session

Let it Glow!

DNA Learning Center at Passaic County Biotechnology Innovation Center
Wayne, NJ
Ages 12 and up, adult chaperones are not required but welcome to attend

Join us to learn how jellyfish glow(—and then "paint" and make art with bio-luminescent bacteria!

Step into the lab and become a scientist for the day! Join us to extract and purify Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP)—a glowing molecule originally found in jellyfish—from genetically engineered bacteria. Then, see how GFP revolutionized biological research and continues to illuminate discoveries in science. To wrap-up the glowing experience, unleash your creativity with agar art—a unique form of “painting” with living bacteria engineered to express vibrant fluorescent proteins. See your artwork come to life under UV light!

In this session, participants will:

• learn how GFP is used in research;
• use chromatography to isolate GFP from other cellular proteins;
• discuss how bacterial cells can be used to produce human proteins; and
• “paint” with colorful bacteria to create “agar art”.

Darwin's Adventure

Dolan DNA Learning Center
Cold Spring Harbor, NY
Ages 10–13, one adult chaperone required

Join us to learn about Charles Darwin, his theory of natural selection, and compete with your own critter in the game of survival!

As we approach the 200^th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s historic voyage aboard the HMS Beagle, join us in discovering the science behind his groundbreaking theory of natural selection! In this session you’ll create an organism using the coded instructions from a DNA sequence, and test its ability to survive in a variety of environments. Will your creation stand the test of selection?

In this session, participants will:

• learn about DNA’s genetic code;
• build an organism with specific traits by analyzing and comparing DNA sequences;
• explore how evolutionary forces shape populations over time; and
• compete in the ultimate challenge: the game of survival!

Past Event

Bilayer in a Bubble

DNA Learning Center at Passaic County Biotechnology Innovation Center
Wayne, NJ
Ages 10–14, no chaperone required

Join us to learn how a simple soap bubble can help us understand cell membranes!

Ever wonder how something as delicate as a bubble can unlock the secrets of biology? In this hands-on bubble lab, we’ll use soap bubbles to explore the amazing world of cell membranes! Watch bubbles stretch, seal, and form mini spheres as we dive into the science of membrane fluidity, selective permeability, self-healing, and vesicle formation.

In this session, participants will:

• describe the cell membrane as a flexible, semi-permeable barrier made of phospholipids;
• discover how membranes stay fluid and heal themselves—just like bubbles;
• explore how cells control what gets in and out; and
• create and pop vesicles to model cellular transport.