Yomo 2018: IRB Barcelona presents "La recerca biomèdica des de dins"

For the second year in a row, IRB Barcelona, in collaboration with BIST (Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology), will participate in the Youth Mobile Festival (YoMo) Barcelona—an event that is part of the Mobile World Congress. In this regard, today the Institute will be presenting the activity "La recerca biomèdica des de dins".

Targeted at students between 10 and 14 years of age, this activity aims to promote scientific vocation in field such as biomedicine, biology and chemistry and promote critical thinking and the responsible use of technology. Participants will learn that biomedicine is a key discipline that allows the study of mechanisms that lead to the development of diseases and the discovery of approaches to cure them.

Two activities have been prepared for the event. In the first, a workshop led by two PhD students at IRB Barcelona, ​​participants will learn about DNA and why it is studied in biomedical research, particularly in cancer research. They will also learn about genetic mutations and how they relate to cancer.

Also, they will have the opportunity to extract DNA from their own cells, following the same steps as those used by scientists in the laboratory, and they will also discover why this biological material is so useful for research into genetic diseases.

Legolish-Mot, a cutting-edge microscope

The second activity includes the Light Sheet Microscope build with LEGO pieces that can capture live images over several days without damaging the sample. This technique allows researchers to study larger elements such as tissues and organs, and even embryos in development.

Directed by Julien Colombelli, inventor of the microscope and Core Facility Manager of the Advanced Digital Microscopy Laboratory at IRB Barcelona, this activity will allow participants to use the microscope to view fluorescent samples and to capture images using their own mobile phones.