What's it about?

Get into Genes is a two-hour workshop designed for a
maximum of 30 students per session. There is no minimum (within reason), however small groups may be encouraged to combine if convenient.

After an introductory presentation that introduces DNA
and how it is used in plant breeding, students rotate
through a choice of four interactive workstations:

Plant breeding: understanding variation, phenotype vs genotype, plant reproduction and inheritance.
DNA extraction: cell structure, biochemistry.
Gel electrophoresis: how we ‘sort' DNA fragments by size.
Restriction enzymes / molecular markers: the concepts behind DNA fingerprinting.
PCR: Two worksations for Year 12 only. Amplifying DNA and the use of PCR to track microsatellite markers.

At each workstation students are given a worksheet to complete.

The session ends with a presentation examining transformation and genetic engineering, giving practical and relevant examples of current research being undertaken by the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG) and the Molecular Plant Breeding Cooperative Research Centre (MPBCRC).

We recommend that the workshop be integrated with formal lessons and some suggestions for pre- and post- visit activities are provided in the teacher notes. This information is provided once a booking for the Get into Genes workshop is confirmed.

The concepts addressed by Get into Genes complement the relevant senior biology curriculum in each state. A comprehensive summary of curriculum links can be found here

Click here to download a copy of the Get into Genes Risk Assessment document.

At this station students:
Investigate phenotypic characteristics of cereal plants.
Identify the reproductive organs of cereals.
Investigate the role of probability in inheritance.

At this station students:
Extract DNA from wheat germ.

At this station students:
Investigate how gel electrophoresis is used to separate fragments of DNA according to their size.

Use a micropipette to load an agarose gel.

At this station students:
Use ‘DNA scissors' to cut up different sequences of DNA.
Model how the cut fragments move through a gel to give a unique fingerprint that can be used to compare or identify individuals.
Investigate how molecular markers can be used predict the phenotype of individuals.