Last week, Dr Rhys Grant from our Programme collaborated with Dr Sio Ball and Dr Rita Monson from the Department of Biochemistry to run a summer project for students taking part in the Clifton Scientific Trust's UK-Japan Young Scientists Workshop.
The project, Bacterial Phenotypes in the Local Environment, saw A-level students from the UK and Japan working together to characterise bacteria isolated from the Downing Site in the centre of Cambridge. Students first had to find their bacteria, taking swabs from anywhere and everywhere outside the Department of Biochemistry, which were then cultured overnight across a range of media to ensure growth and a variety of traits for analysis. The following morning, once the students had been thoroughly disgusted at the sight of the samples grown, particularly by those which came from the River Cam (pictured), the bacteria were assayed for innate antibiotic resistance, antibiotic production, and quorum sensing (the process through which bacteria 'talk' to one another). Additionally, a selection of the colonies were analysed by gram staining and microscopy to differentiate samples based on the chemical and physical properties of their cell walls. The students worked extremely hard and, as a class, over 1,000 data points were obtained after just 2.5 days in the lab!
To end their week in Cambridge, the students presented their results to their peers, project facilitators, scientists, and a number of distinguished guests including the President of Barclays Bank Japan, the Chief Executive of the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, and a former Director of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, at the Workshop Presentation Day at Murray Edwards College.
The students did exceptionally well throughout the week; learning to communicate across language and cultural barriers, picking up second year undergraduate-level scientific knowledge and practical skills almost instantaneously, and delivering a presentation with the clarity and confidence of professionals. We hope this is the beginning of some fantastic future careers in science for these students and wish them all the best for their future studies!
