Meeting in Czestochowa

For the fifth meeting in the two year-long project „European Challenges in Gene Editing by CRISPR“, the Erasmus+ team met at IX Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Cypriana Kamila Norwida to the execution of a lab-workshop with bacteria. In this meeting the participants trained to work sterile with bacteria. The students and their teachers from France, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Slovakia and Czech Republic were warmly welcomed by the Polish hosts.

From 09.01.2024 – 20.01.2024 Besides the practical execution of the experiment, education material was presented and thus put to the test.

The laboratory internship was instructed by an international mentor team, consisting of students from Germany, Slowakia and Poland.
The experiments for this meeting we’re to analyse the metabolism of two bacteria Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis.
During the first step of the multiple day-long lab internship the participants made solid nutrients with 2% of starch for an experiment that investigated the metabolism of starch. When the preparations for the first experiment where made, the participants started to work on the solid nutrients for the second experiment. The second experiment was for the research of oxygen. The students made an insert into the tubes with solid nutrient. The next experiment was for testing the thickness respectively thiness of cell walls: The gram-quick-test. For this experiment the participants had to mix bacteria in a two percentage solution of Potassium Hydroxide. The bacteria with a thin cell wall made strings, which consists of DNA and Protein, the thick cell wall did not produce these strings. For the last experiment the students had to produce pure cultures. The pure cultures are made by drawing a specific pattern on a solid nutrient with overnight cultures on the inoculation loop.

Furthermore, a visit to Jagiellonian University was scheduled. The Erasmus+ team was invited to visit the laboratory and zoological museum of the university. After this exciting opportunity to look at the university, the students had a tour around Kraków including the Jewish Quarter, the castle Wawel, the old town and the main square. After an interesting insight of the city the day was finished with an delicious dinner. On the next day the participants visited the Jasna Góra and the Muzeum Górnictwa Żelaza w Częstochowskie which was a wonderful insight of the history. The church Jasna Gòra was a big highlight because of the black Madonna. Every year four million people visit this painting and pray infront of it.

At the end of the meeting all participants were on the same page in the knowledge of sterile work with bacteria in a labratory. A big thank you to the European Union for the support of international work in schools.