BioDays 2005 showcase the biosciences April 2

BioDays 2005 showcase the biosciences April 2

University Park, Pa. -- BioDays 2005, a free, interactive event showcasing bioscience research, will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 2, in the Information Sciences and Technology Building on the Penn State University Park campus.

Alexandra Surcel, a doctoral candidate in the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences integrative biosciences graduate degree program, is coordinating the event as she did last year, the first year that the event was held.

"This year's events include many hands-on activities, including a chance to build your own DNA mobile, perform chlorophyll chromatography, play ecology JENGA, interact with wildlife from Shaver's Creek and play a survival of the fittest game," Surcel said. "Free prizes will be given away at the Question and Answer Table."

In addition, starting at 10:30 a.m. there will be Tours of the Cell, where participants can discover the inner-workings of the cell with a room-sized model and a virtual lab, where participants will be pathogen detectives and learn how scientists identify disease-causing bacteria and viruses.

BioDays will offer three speakers: Susan Carney, doctoral candidate in biology, "The Biology of Deep-Sea Vent Tubeworms" at 11:30 a.m.; Nina Fedoroff, Evan Pugh professor of biology and the Willaman professor of the life sciences, "Genetically Modified Foods: Monsters or Miracles?" at 12:30 p.m.; and James Strauss, lecturer in biology, "Explorations into Human Embryology" at 1:30 p.m. All talks will be presented in 208 Information Sciences and Technology Building.

Penn State biology research will be presented in interactive poster presentations.

Tours to the electron microscope and the Center for Quantitative Cell Analysis facilities will occur throughout the day with shuttle bus service departing from the Information Sciences and Technology Building. "On these tours, participants can look at plant cells, fleas, their own cheek cells, and much more," Surcel said.

The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, in partnership with the Department of Biology, the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Office of the Vice President for Research, is sponsoring BioDays 2005.

The Huck Institutes include a Biotechnology Institute, an Institute for Genomics, Proteomics and Bioinformatics and a Neuroscience Institute. The Neuroscience Institute, dedicated to teaching, research and service across the broad array of neuroscience-related disciplines from molecular and cellular research to studies on human behavior, was added to the Huck Institutes in February this year.

Check the Huck Institutes Web site at http://www.huck.psu.edu/Biodays for more information about BioDays or e-mail psubiodays@yahoo.com.