Teachers and students invited to learn more about Genes in Space contest

The online workshop will give participants a chance to learn more about the Genes in Space challenge and find out how they can enhance their proposals before organisers begin accepting contest entries at the beginning of the new academic year.

ABU DHABI // Teachers and pupils are being invited to take part in an online seminar that will beam them to a new scientific frontier, where biology meets space.

The one-hour online workshop on Wednesday will provide a chance to learn more about the Genes in Space challenge and find out how they can enhance their proposals before organisers begin accepting contest entries at the start of next academic year.

Genes in Space is a national competition organised by the UAE Space Agency, The National and Boeing, which gives teams of four pupils, from Years 7 to 12, a chance to design a scientific experiment that addresses real challenges in space exploration, involving biology in zero gravity.

The winning experiment will be tested by astronauts at the International Space Station.

Seminar hosts Ezequiel Alvarez Saavedra and Sebastian Kraves, co-founders of the miniPCR – a portable DNA lab that pupils can use to carry out molecular biology, genetics and biological engineering experiments, among others – will discuss topics such as biology in space, the International Space Station National Laboratory and DNA technology.

They will give children and teachers a better understanding of the scientific challenges involving DNA analysis in space and help to prepare students when it comes to forming competitive proposals for the Genes in Space challenge.

The seminar will take place at 2.30pm. To join, click here and enter meeting number 896 012 854. The password is Houston2016. Participants must also call free on 800 0444 9413 and enter access code 896 012 854.

Organisers will also host a day-long, hands-on workshop on August 22 in Abu Dhabi for a limited number of educators and pupils who want to learn more about how to fine-tune experiments for Genes in Space using the miniPCR.

More information about the workshop is available from [e-mail] or click here.