Gene Silencing Workshop

Age: 14+

Dates: TBD, once we have enough participants, we will buy the kit and announce the dates, which will be on Saturdays

Time: 2 – 4 pm

Workshop price: $120

Materials and Supplies price will be the price of the kit divided by the number of participants.

Please let us know if you have any question.

A fabulous opportunity for high school students and adults to dive into the world of biotechnology with this immersive gene silencing workshop. Students who complete the course will have the opportunity to apply what they have learned to develop their own project and join the prestigious Regeneron student talent search (STS) for a scholarship opportunity. Instructor: Mohamad Alayouni, Master student Biotech.

Description:

Join us to learn how to genetically engineer the C. elegans worm, which is used worldwide to study gene expression and gene silencing. Over the 5 weeks of this workshop, we'll:

Step 1: Grow the C. elegans worm in petri dishes and check viability under a microscope.

Step 2: Design RNAi to interfere with the worm’s mRNA that codes for the dpy-13 gene.

Step 3: Infect the worm with engineered plasmid to get the RNAi into the worm and silence the dpy-13 gene expression.

Step 4: Run PCR and electrophoresis to measure RNAi effects on mRNA expression.

Step 5: Bioinformatics workshop to determine the size of the gene silenced in the worm and compare it to the corresponding equivalent human gene.

Step 6 (optional): This class will provide you with skills and knowledge to develop your own project and join the prestigious Regeneron student talent search (STS) for a scholarship opportunity.