On Thursday 27 April, a group of Year 12 biology and chemistry A-level pupils embarked on a day trip to Bayer’s UK headquarters in Reading. Bayer UK is a leader in pharmaceuticals, consumer health and crop science. One of their primary aims is to prevent, alleviate and treat diseases and so the day proved to be extremely useful and insightful for our pupils.
The following write-ups come courtesy of Dexter Elliot and Jack Duggan. Speaking after the trip, Jack said:
‘Last week the Year 12 biology and chemistry students visited the Bayer Industry hub in Reading. The workshop predominantly targeted biology pupils however, as an all-around lover of science, I found it very worthwhile. The experience was enthralling and my favourite aspect had to be using the highly dangerous UV emitting boxes. Other awesome equipment we used consisted of volumetric pipettes, special biology gels and cool electric tanks.
We learned how to DNA found in crime scenes is used to convict felons or confirm the deaths of “missing” people through clever methods such as identifying STRs in the gene code. As a chemist, I found this very interesting as it is a side of research and science that we have little experience with.’
Dexter added:
‘Shiplake College's trip to Bayer was informative and attention grabbing for both chemistry and biology students as it provided interesting facts and relevant topics to our courses. We started the day with an introduction on specialist equipment and a tour of the lab where we would be doing our workshop in. All the staff were super helpful and always on hand if we posed a question throughout the day.
The day’s focus was centred around a case study on matching different suspects’ DNA from a crime scene. The crime in hand was a shark attack with four potential victims. We used DNA samples from the suspects to match them with the crime scene victim. We did this using volumetric pipettes, gel electrophoresis apparatuses and high emitting UV light boxes; all equipment which was new to us. It was a good step up on a practical level and gave us a more “real world” situation which is extremely useful for those who are looking to pursue such careers.'
