In early November 2018, SoundBio Lab teamed up with Celgene for a one-of-a-kind biotech workshop event for middle school children. Held at Celgene’s Juno Therapeutic’s location in Seattle, WA, this event specifically targeted girls and under-represented minorities in order to promote diversity in biotechnology.

The children were treated to several hands-on science activities designed specifically by Celgene and SoundBio scientists. The goal of this event was to inspire kids to envision themselves as scientists, and to help them see the connection between DNA and cancer.

Staff and volunteers from both SoundBio and Celgene led 7 different groups of kids in these hands-on activities, starting with a favorite, strawberry DNA extraction. The groups then participated in a novel cancer game where they got to tear apart paper mache cells to learn about healthy DNA variation, as well as the different kinds of mutations that can lead to cancer. The final activity was learning how to micropipet using colored water, parafilm, petri dishes, and 96 well plates. All in all, the kids and volunteers had a wonderful morning learning about biology.

We hope to continue this workshop series as an annual event. If you have a middle school student who is interested in biology, we’d love for you to join us! You can do so by following this LINK.