During the day the Eggeling lab from our MRC Human Immunology Unit set up one of the many stands in Broad Street. The team are developing new microscopy techniques to better understand the immune system and cancer. In their ‘Unweaving the Rainbow’ stand, the researchers got back to microscopy basics and discussed the science of light, from Newton’s experiments to the uses of interferometers. Visitors had the opportunity to make their own rainbow and to use bubbles to learn more about the physics of light.
In the evening our scientists could be found at two of Oxford’s most iconic museums. In the Natural History Museum, researchers from our MRC Molecular Hematology and Human Immunology Units joined others from the Radcliffe Department of Medicine to transform a small room into the Blood Factory. Through a series of stations, children (and grown-ups) could learn about the different components of the blood, hear their heart beat with a Doppler ultrasound and play the role of an immune cell. Meanwhile, at the Ashmolean Museum, and just next door to Lawrence of Arabia, the DNA Origami stand discussed all things DNA. One of the highlights was the Virtual Reality experience, developed by the researchers at our new MRC WIMM Centre for ComputationalBiology. This allowed visitors (and researchers) to understand how DNA folds in health and disease.
By participating in the Oxford Curiosity Carnival, the MRC WIMM researchers joined hundreds of other European cities in celebrating European Researchers’ Night.
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