Year 10 and 11 students from St Albans Secondary College were among 120 students from across Victoria to attend the Annual Biomedical Sciences Day at the University of Melbourne.
Local students and their teacher had the exciting opportunity to experience life as a biomedical scientist at the event presented by the University of Melbourne’s School of Biomedical Sciences and the Gene Technology Access Centre (GTAC).
The University’s Head of School of Biomedical Sciences, Professor Jennifer Wilkinson-Berka, encouraged the students to think about the science behind what creates, sustains and threatens people’s lives in Australia and beyond.
Professor Wilkinson-Berka spoke of the revolutionary work underway at the school, and the Gene Technology Access Centre— including biological processes to better understand human health, computational biology, 3D printing to replace bones, genomics: new tools for cancer treatments, and new vaccines to combat disease.
Students worked alongside researchers in the Gene Technology Access Centre Laboratories to photograph specimens using light, fluorescence and scanning electron microscopes, and had the opportunity to enter the images into their own Under the Microscope Coverslip Competition.
They also took a behind the scenes look at the University’s Harry Brookes Allen Museum of Anatomy and Pathology and uncovered real tissue specimens and historical anatomical models, and a tour of the Digital Learning Hub which allowed students to experience how innovative digital technology is used to study the human body.
“Holding a beating heart in VR was really cool,” said one student. Their teacher said the students had a wonderful learning experience, and the use of all the great technology and scientific equipment was a real highlight for them.
