SAW at East Norfolk Sixth Form Friday 13th March 2015 Topic - Synthetic Biology Intro & Activities summary Science: The science session focussed on yeast and its use as a model organism in scientific research for studying biological systems. John Innes Centre scientist, Tessa Moses who specialises in metabolic engineering, introduced the students to synthetic biology and her research into engineering yeast for the production of high value chemicals, such as the anti-malarial drug artemisinin. The students prepared and stained microscope slides to observe different yeast cultures and then set up an enzymatic reaction that enabled them to compare engineered with wild type yeast cells. Art: The art session took inspiration from an image that showed E.coli strains engineered to produce different plant carotenoids. The different coloured strains were used on the image to write the names of the particular carotenoids and this reminded Chris Hann of work by artist Jasper Johns. Particularly Johns work called 0 through 9, where the numbers are superimposed to create a highly abstract structure. The students chose a word, either from the science or another source and superimposed the letters on A3 paper and then removed sections of lines with a rubber to create a distorted, interwoven structure. The structures were then defined with different colour oil pastels and painted using water colours. Writing: The writing session focussed on poetry taking a lead from the science. Mike offered the students an opportunity to write different styles of poetry including the highly structured villanelle, a nineteen-line poem with two repeating rhymes and two refrains. This style of poem echoed the concept of synthetic biology where the repeating lines are inserted at different points to create a different meaning/outcome.

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