“The Year 12 Human Biology classes enjoyed visiting the BioDiscovery Centre at the Harry Perkins Institute this week. The excursion was an amazing opportunity to apply what we have been learning in class about biotechnology. The presenters explained to the group what they do at the institute and why, such as research in different areas of disease, and they were also able to run their own PCRs and gel electrophoreses using real DNA and equipment used by the researchers who work there. The excursion was a bit restricted due to COVID rules and regulations, but it was still a great experience for us to have.” Celeste Pereira, Year 12 student
“In Week 2, the Year 12 Human Biology classes, accompanied by our classroom teacher Mrs Parker, and other staff from the Science Department, went to Harry Perkin’s Institute of Medical Research to further our knowledge about genetic mutations and how mutations can be found and fixed. While we were there, we got to put our learning into action by performing the process of PCR, which is the replication and therefore amplification of genes so scientists can test and sequence DNA in one of the laboratories at the institute. In doing this, we learnt about some of the ways that the processes that we learn in class can benefit the real world and what the process looks like in practice. It was inspiring to hear of the research being done at the institute, such as the research into melanoma and the work of the Australian Genome Research Facility, and gave all of us a great insight into what it might be like to work in a lab as a scientist as a career.” Meg Hobson, Year 12 student
