Real-Life Research - Which Little Piggy? | Genome Editing | Secondary Teacher CLPL Workshop

This workshop gives a real insight and practical hands-on experience on what life in the lab is like here at The Roslin Institute through the science of Christine Tait-Burkard and her success in creating disease resistant pigs. This hands-on CLPL workshop, for secondary school science teachers, will be a technique refresher focused on gel electrophoresis.

Learning Level:  Secondary Biology Teachers

Location: Charnock Bradley Building Reception, 10 minutes before the workshop start time

Availability: On demand 

Cost: £300 per workshop, maximum attendance is 20 people

Duration: 4 hours (with 30 minutes for lunch) + tour of The Roslin Institute

Booking:  please email  ebsoc@ed.ac.uk for booking enquiries in 2024

Join the Easter Bush Science Outreach Centre (EBSOC) team to get a unique chance to do our Real-Life Roslin Research: Which Little Piggy? workshop. You will be introduced to the current, cutting-edge research of Dr Christine Tait-Burkard and her team who have used genome-editing technology to engineer pigs that are genetically resistant to an infectious disease called porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS). The workshop will reveal how they use molecular biology techniques to genotype engineered pigs. 

Learning Objectives

• To understand how scientific research is used to solve global animal health and welfare problems
• To develop scientific thinking and critical analysis skills
• To understand how gene editing works and can be used in the lab
• To understand that we can identify genotypes using DNA profiling
• To interpret and discuss experimental results
• To reveal the world of work in scientific research

Techniques Used

• Micro-pipetting
• DNA gel electrophoresis

Workshop outline

• Introduction to gene editing
• Introduction to micropipettes
• Preparation of DNA for fragment analysis
• DNA electrophoresis using agarose gels
• Analysis and interpretation of results
• Ethical discussion about use of genome edited animals in farming

Getting here:

Free parking is available at Easter Bush Campus in The Roslin Institute and Veterinary Teaching Building car parks. Please provide your car registration at Charnock Bradley Building reception when you check in for the event.

The campus is well-served by Lothian buses (buses 15, some 37 services, the X47 (but not the 47) and the 67) – please see www.lothianbuses.com. For more information please download our How to Get Here document 

Accessibility and Inclusion:

We are keen to make our events as inclusive as possible - please email us at ebsoc@ed.ac.uk or call the Easter Bush Science Outreach Centre team on 0131 651 9679 before booking if you would like to find out more about accessibility or usability.

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