Last month (12 June) 10 members of the College’s Biotechnology Club got up close and personal with cutting-edge sequencing technologies at the UCL Genomics research facility (UCL Great Ormond Street Institute for Child Health) located at the Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Diseases in Children (ZCR) in London.

Head of Biology Alys Dreux said, “As part of our practical sessions at College, under the guidance of Dr Haitham Hussain, students learnt the basics of the techniques involved in DNA extraction, PCR, plasmid preparation and gene cloning. 

“They also learnt the principles behind sequencing and gene analysis by bioinformatics. Seeing this impressive state-of-the-art facility in the flesh really took things to the next level as they saw for themselves the application of robotics in sequencing and microarray technology.” 

Students met and talked with industry experts Dr Rachel Williams (Head of Sequencing and Facility Manager), Charlotte Williams and Patricia Dyal Bynoe (Application Specialists) learning about the application, technological developments and future use of genomics in gene therapy and personalised medicine. 

Our students were certainly inspired, commenting: “The whole experience was fascinating. It has inspired me to work in the field of biotechnology or genomics research in the future” and “The most interesting academic experience I have ever had – it was absolutely amazing!”

Special thanks must also go to Dr Mark Kristiansen, Head of UCL Genomics for giving our students this outstanding opportunity.