GO WITH YOUR GUTS! (And the billions of bacteria in them): A personal microbiome course

April 14th, 21st, and 28, 2018 from 10 am-2 pm

Microbiome

Signup on Eventbrite by April 4th

Test your own personal microbiome (or your pet’s!)

In this class you will be able to investigate your own gut microbiome, or the microbes of your pets, roommates, or family members. Our microbiome (the microbes living in and on our bodies) are believed to have profound effects on our immune systems, health, and susceptibility to disease. Find out what you can learn about your own health and wellness. In this class you’ll perform lab work to isolate the microbes present, sequence and identify those microbes, and then learn what the results mean for YOU personally.

In this class you’ll be able to design your own experiment to compare any two samples! What samples do you want to compare? How many gut microbes you share with your dog? What about with another human? Does your gut microbiome change with your diet? What if you ate pizza for two weeks straight? (We do not endorse pizza as a sole source of nutrition!)

Isolate and process DNA from your samples. Use the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify the DNA of the microbes. Determine the different species of in your two samples. For those interested in programming and computational biology, the entire class will learn how to analyze the sequencing data and perform comparative analysis to uncover further information (don’t worry, this class is appropriate for beginners!).

Everyone gets two biological samples to test, here are some experimental suggestions. If none of these interest you, just ask us if you have another idea.

1) Test your microbiome vs. your roommate (or friend, or family member)’s microbiome *
2) Test your microbiome vs. your pet **
3) Test your microbiome before and after a lifestyle change such as a change in diet, exercise or sleep habits
4) Test your pet microbiome before and after a change in your pet’s lifestyle

* Mandatory: you must get their consent

**Well, at least ask?

DISCLAIMER: In order to acquire these microbes for analysis you will need to take a very small, easy -to get, stool sample. The microbes will be immediately inactivated (killed) in the sample before you bring in to process at BUGSS. We DO NOT advise a drastic change in diet, sleep, or exercise so please be safe and smart in your choices. (Good Example experiment… drink a kombucha every day for 2 weeks and see what happens before and after) (Bad Example… feed your cat pizza for 2 weeks and see what happens.)

IMPORTANT:
You will get further (detailed) instructions and materials once you sign up for class. Please consider the time you may need to collect your samples, especially if testing a change in diet.

Sat. Feb 17th 2018 $30 – $75 depending on BUGSS membership 

Microbe microscopy! 

Lean how to make slides and stain microbes for identification and characterization

Lean how to make slides and stain bacteria and yeast for identification and characterization. Including gram staining, simple staining, methylene blue, and more!

Cost: For non-members is $75, 40-60% Discounts for our awesome BUGSS members! Not a BUGSS member yet? Join our community of citizen scientists, thinkers, and tinkerers and get mega awesome benefits (also gain infinite cool points!) inquire with slaun@bugssonline.org or learn more here: https://bugssonline.org/payment.html

Great introductory class to get introduced to microscopy to explore the microscopic universe around us. Anyone middle-school-aged to adult will enjoy this short hands-on session!

Cost: For non-members is $75, 40-60% Discounts for our awesome BUGSS members! Not a BUGSS member yet? Join our community of citizen scientists, thinkers, and tinkerers and get mega awesome benefits (also gain infinite cool points!) inquire with slaun@bugssonline.org or learn more here: https://bugssonline.org/payment.html.

Please sign up by Saturday Feb. 10th! 

LINK FOR TICKETS HERE  

Alpha Innotech Manual

Sat. Feb 10th 2018 $30 – $75 depending on BUGSS membership 

Intro to cell and tissue microscopy!

Learn staining techniques to explore features of animal and human tissues safely in the lab! Dr. Bertrand will take you on a tour of different tissue staining techniques, how to identify different types of cells and structures.

Dr. Sarah Bertrand received her PhD in 2015 from the University of South Carolina. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in the Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine department where she studies the effects sleep disruption and neuroinflammation on brain development in various animal models of disease. Her current research question delves into the chicken or the egg phenomenon of sleep disruption: Do changes in sleep patterns contribute to the pathology of neurodevelopmental disorders or does the pathology produce sleep disruption? She uses immunochemistry, behavior assessments, and electroencephalogram recordings to help answer this question. 

Great introductory class to get introduced to microscopy and how examination of cell and tissue structures can tell us about these incredible biological “machines” that make us up. Anyone middle-school-aged to adult will enjoy this short hands-on session!

Cost: For non-members is $75, 40-60% Discounts for our awesome BUGSS members! Not a BUGSS member yet? Join our community of citizen scientists, thinkers, and tinkerers and get mega awesome benefits (also gain infinite cool points!) inquire with slaun@bugssonline.org or learn more here: https://bugssonline.org/payment.html.

Please sign up by Saturday Feb. 3rd! 

LINK FOR TICKETS HERE  

Alpha Innotech Manual

Sat. Jan 27th – Sat. 21st 2017 $30 – $75 depending on BUGSS membership 

Microscope Makers: Explore the micro-universe around you! with Dr. Kate Gillespie
Join microbiologist Dr. Kate Gillespie in our community lab for a workshop introducing Foldscopes! She will instruct on how to build these affordable microscopes, how to use them, and best of all demonstrate different ways you can use them to explore and learn from the universe around you!

Great introductory mini workshop to get busy in the lab working with bacteria and how we can use them for research. Anyone middle-school-aged to adult will enjoy this short hands-on session!
Bio of your instructor: Dr Kathleen Gillespie has been a research microbiologist in industry from the Bio- pharmaceutical to Bio-defense. She recently received her doctoral degree in Marine Biotechnology and is now a visiting professor in Molecular Biotechnology at Stockton University

What is Foldscope? Foldscope is an ultra-affordable field microscope, which you build from common materials such as paper. It is designed to be produced affordably, to be durable, and to give optical quality similar to conventional research microscopes. With magnification of 140X and imaging resolution of 2 micron; Foldscope brings microscopy to new places.

Cost: For non-members is $75, 40-60% Discounts for our awesome BUGSS members! Not a BUGSS member yet? Join our community of citizen scientists, thinkers, and tinkerers and get mega awesome benefits (also gain infinite cool points!) inquire with slaun@bugssonline.org or learn more here: https://bugssonline.org/payment.html.

LINK FOR TICKETS HERE 

Alpha Innotech Manual

Lab Skill Nights at BUGSS – 2 hours for a new technique

January – Protein Isolation – Link here

February – Protein Detection – SDS-PAGE – Link here

March- Plasmid DNA Isolation – Link here

To help work around busy schedules, two nights a month we will offer a hands-on learning experience of a specific technique. This will be an immersive hands-on class so be prepared to attend the full 2 hours and listen carefully. Additional material will be available to help understand concepts and basic biology of this technique and applications.

Spots Limited!
Non-members $30, members $12

Not a BUGSS member yet? Join our community of citizen scientists, thinkers, and tinkerers and get mega awesome benefits (also gain infinite cool points!) inquire with slaun@bugssonline.org!

Those interested in Digital Badges please inquire! You have the potential to earn these with each session via Credly.

 


ProTeam: Playing with Proteins (Mini Class!)
Fri. July 20th – Sat. 21st 2017 $45 – $130
Techniques in protein chemistry are utilized in practically every aspect of biomedical research. With the advances in decoding the human genome, there is now much to explore about the functions and roles of the genes encoded. Join us to learn the basics of protein biology as we isolate, quantify, and specifically identify proteins from bacteria. We will also discuss the applications of protein chemistry and how it impacts the biomedical sciences.
Alpha Innotech Manual

Build-A-Gene Course (now more CRISPR)
5 Saturdays 10AM-2PM, July 29th -August 26th 2017 $130 – $325
A course covering cutting-edge topics in gene manipulation. No previous lab experience necessary-while the concepts are extraordinary, this course is appropriate for those with no lab experience. Learn how to build genes from scratch, how to change and mutate DNA, work with the revolutionary CRISPR technology that is taking the research world by storm!
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Synthetic Biology Wikipedia Editathon
Sat, July 8, 2017 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM EDT $0 – $1
BUGSS is supremely excited to have a team of expert Wikipedians on July 8th from 12-5pm! They will show anyone interested in contributing and improving the quality and accuracy Wikipedia! This will be specific to a subject near and dear to DIY bio labs: Synthetic Biology! This is an incredible way for scientists to benefit by engaging with a FREE and OPEN ACCESS source of reliable science information that anyone can use. This is a useful skill to show on grant applications, resumes, or just for some good and fun outreach!
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Biosafety and Biosecurity for BUGSS Members
Fri, June 30, 2017 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT Free
BUGSS members are invited to the lab THIS FRIDAY for our BioSafety and BioSecurity training! Come to the lab for the lecture and get a tour of our lab with an EMPHASIS on safety! This training is for our members so they can use our lab and be safe, ethical and respectful members of our bio-community! Not a member yet and would like to be? Please email Sarah at slaun@bugssonline.org for more information!
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Lab Skills Night! Protein Isolation!
June 2017 $0-$15
Protein Isolation: You (may) have isolated DNA before, you (may) have cut it up and put in new genes, amplified billions of copies of it, and even run in through an agarose gel. That is all “old hat”.. Now it is time to isolate a protein! We will go through a short protocol (2 hrs) to isolate DNA Taq Polymerase from bacterial cultures!
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Does it Glow or No?
Sat, June 10, 2017 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM EDT  $20 – $60
Join us for a few hours to explore how well disinfectants work, using bioluminescent bacteria as a marker! Great introductory mini workshop to get busy in the lab working with bacteria and how we can use them for research. We will generate some data in class on different disinfectants. Anyone middle-school-aged to adult will enjoy this short hands-on session!
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