Een gecombineerde lezing (Engels) van onze ABE collega’s uit Duitsland, Ierland en Frankrijk. Dr. Patricia Schöppner van ABE Duitsland presenteert een nieuwe nascholing die daar binnenkort wordt gegeven over lactose intolerantie. Alain Bessis van ABE Frankrijk verteld over het ABE practicum dat daar gegeven worden. Elaine Quinn van ABE Ireland vertelt over ‘Genetic Testing & Prediction of Disease’. Zij gebruiken materiaal van miniPCR, net zoals onze nieuwe leskist. Met deze presentaties krijgt u nog meer inzicht wat u zelf met de leskist kunt doen.
Lactose intolerance – Combining DNA-Analytics with Industrial Techniques – Dr. Patricia Schöppner, ABE Germany
Approximately 70% of world’s population suffer from the inability to digest the milk sugar lactose during adulthood (Höffeler, 20091). In 2002 a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was found that highly correlates with the ability to digest lactose in European populations (Enattah et al., 20022). The SNP is located within a regulatory element that influences the expression of Lactase-phlorizin-hydrolase (LPH) and enables people carrying the SNP to continue LPH expression during adulthood (Liebert et al., 20163).
Consumption of milk has many nutritional benefits, e.g. calcium intake, that cannot be easily replaced by alternative products like soymilk. Furthermore, these alternatives can be critical due to allergens (Obermayer-Pietsch et al., 20074). One possible solution against these negative effects is the production of lactose free milk products. Currently a broad range of these products is already available in our supermarkets. How does the food industry fabricate such lactose free milk products, in which normally very expensive enzymes are used during the manufacturing process?
In the first part of the teacher training, biology teachers get the opportunity to identify their own genetically predisposition for lactose intolerance. Initially the teachers extract their own DNA followed by PCR. To distinguish between lactose intolerance and –tolerance the amplified PCR construct is digested via a restriction enzyme and analyzed further by agarose gel electrophoresis. In all steps, the Germany ABE side uses the common ABE Equipment for the classrooms.
Secondly, teachers learn about the standardized manufacturing process of lactose free milk products. For reutilization of high-priced biomolecules, the essential step in food industry is to co-immobilize enzymes in diverse polymer matrices. With self-prepared immobilized lactase within a polymer matrix (Scherr & Werel, 20065) the teachers can reproduce industrial production of lactose free milk products. To promote practicability in biology lessons all experiments were adapted to micro scale.
ABE France is led by the Department of Biology at L’Ecole Normale Supérieure.
As part of the adaptation and implementation of the ABE program in France, professors of biology and biotechnology will attend ABE trainings in DNA manipulation and protein purification experiments at the ENS. They will then borrow the materials and reagents to train the students in their high schools. Through the ABE program, students will use modern biotechnology techniques and tools through genuine experiments, carried out daily in laboratories. They will understand their nature and potentialities, but also, they will discover the pleasure of manipulating, understand that these up-to-date techniques are accessible, and hopefully they may eventually pursue careers in the sciences.
This interdisciplinary student lab demonstrates that state of the art science can be brought to every classroom.
ABE Ireland – ‘Genetic Testing & Prediction of Disease’
‘Its is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change’ – Charles Darwin.
The biological landscape of 2050 will be different to that which we know. Through advancements in genetics and medical technologies, we know more about the human body than ever before in our history. This enables us to make smarter choices to improve our quality of life. But with enhanced knowledge comes responsibility. There has never been a greater call for our species to exercise wisdom regarding what we can know about our own bodies. In this workshop, we look at the genetic and societal knowledge challenges presented in an age of genetic and medical advancement.
In this workshop, we look at genetic and societal knowledge challenges presented in an age of genetic and medical advancement.