During the International Science Festival in Gothenburg, researchers from the Division of Industrial Biotechnology offered school classes to visit a laboratory to experiment and paint with yeast. Class 5B from Flatåsskolan took the chance to become yeast researchers for a day.
Friday lunchtime in a laboratory classroom at the Department of Life Sciences. The pupils in class 5B are focusing to an introduction by researchers Karl Persson, Jonas Ravn, and Cecilia Geijer. They are talking about yeast and what it can be used for. For example, baker's yeast is used in many different research areas and the microorganism can be genetically developed to be used for different purposes, from pharmaceutical production to biofuel production.
During the lesson, baker's yeast will be used to give white colour to the paintings that the pupils will create from yeast cells, by painting on culture plates. The pupils have created motifs in advance − coronaviruses, monsters, hearts − and when the yeast cells divide and grow for a couple of days in an incubator, the art will appear on the plates.
Harmless − but smelly
Baker's yeast is called Saccharomyces cerevisiae and now 16 pupils are practicing in chorus how to pronounce the name. It is difficult, but also fun. The name of the yeast that will give red colour to the paintings is even worse, Rhodosporidiobolus fluvialis. Both types of yeast are completely harmless to humans, but you still should wear a lab coat and gloves in the lab - and safety glasses, just to be on the safe side.
When the experiments start, many reflect on the same thing.
“It smells disgusting. Why? Poor scientists, they are working with this all the time”
It seems, though, that keeping your nose away from the agar plates is hard. And what has the worst smells – the yeast or the culture plate?
"New and fun experience"
The teacher Eva Bergendorff is as enthusiastic as her pupils. She is happy to have found a lesson for her class in a lab environment where they can experiment with biological material. Such occasions are few during the regular lessons at school.
“It's a new and fun experience for all of us, it's also good to be able to give some insight to life as a student or a researcher at a university as Chalmers,” she says.
Important to spark interest for science
The researchers agree. It is important to show real environments and methods to the pupils, who could very well become tomorrow's researchers. Perhaps this lesson will spark an interest in Chalmers and life sciences.
“We enjoy the opportunity to talk about research in a simple way. It takes a little effort, but we must try to explain our research at a very basic level,” says Cecilia Geijer.
Karl Persson agrees:
“I have taught students at the university before, but it requires more preparation to teach a lesson for younger classes, since we cannot take for granted that there is prior knowledge of the nature of yeast cells and biological processes. It is a great opportunity to try this format too.”
At the end of the lesson, the students themselves summarize what they have learned. Now they know what certain microorganisms look like, that growing yeast cells don't get bigger but divides into more cells - and that yeast needs sugar to grow and therefore won't grow in their hair if the cells landed there by accident.
The Division of Industrial Biotechnology
At the Division of Industrial Biotechnology, the researchers’ aims are to produce chemicals, materials, energy carriers and food ingredients using enzymes and microorganisms. In this way they contribute to the development of a bio-based, sustainable society.
The International Science Festival in Gothenburg
The International Science Festival Gothenburg is Sweden's largest festival of knowledge and one of Europe's leading popular science events. Here, researchers are given the opportunity to present their research to schoolchildren and the public in creative ways.