One topic that I have always taught with an air of dis-satisfaction is Biotechnology. Teaching of techniques and skills without ever trying them always seemed a struggle. So as the new year has started I have started a Biotechnology club at my school and have connected with the provider Bio-Rad to hopefully bring alive the techniques and skills that I have always feared to teach.
Its my intention to work with a small number of students on a voluntary basis to help them (and myself) master techniques that I could possibly expand to a larger class. I am secretly rather excited at the prospect of inserting a luminescent gene into some bacteria and then observing them glow. Its surprisingly accessible to the average department budget though the PCR machine is probably requiring a little extra.
Thought I would share this to perhaps inspire you to try something new, put something into your working day that will force you to address something you have always secretly wished to do and to let you know that I will be updating you with my progress as the year opens up.
And it would be inappropriate to also direct you to ENCODE and the nature website if you have missed the recent news that illustrates the relevance of Biotechnology to the biologist of today.
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