Experience the Centre of the Cell
The Centre of the Cell is the world’s first science education centre that allows children to visit real labs at Queen Mary University of London. We walked into a giant embryo suspended above the research labs and played exciting interactive games in cell biology, genetics, human health and disease. We watched films and grew cells in a virtual lab designed to mimic real experiments in biomedical research. We also explored the possibilities of using stem cells to treat burns and even build body parts that can be grown in a research lab. We used microscopes to examine cancerous tissues and compared there structure to healthy tissues.
Then my daughter asked the million dollar question “Mum. When are you going to stop cells from dying?”….
The show organised by undergraduate students studying medicine and dentistry at Barts & the Royal London Hospital at Queen Mary University of London. The children participated in a Q&A style quiz and were asked to identify the number of teeth in humans, gastropods, fish and mammals. When asked how many teeth in a snail, my daughter shouted 25, 000 teeth and was subsequently asked to come to the stage where she learnt that sharks have even more teeth, with at least fifty rows!
This has been a fantastic day out – thanks to the Centre of the Cell!