Biotech Day
Biotech Day
Friday, January 27, 2023 8:30am-2pm
Biotech Day is an annual event run by the Biological Sciences faculty at KU Edwards Campus (KUEC), consisting of the Applied Biological Sciences and Biotechnology Programs. The event includes games, speakers, and the opportunity to participate in a Flash Science Puzzle. Attendees will also hear presentations from current KU students, network with KU students and faculty, and have the chance to sign up as volunteers to work in the laboratory with KU science students.
Biotechnology faculty host a monthly SciFlix event, open to the public. You’re invited to enjoy a feature film followed by a panel of experts discussing the science, theories and ethics brought about in the story.
The KU FLASH Science Puzzle Project
The Flash Science Fair is being replaced with a Science engaging late high school and early college students with a problem to be worked out and submitted online in advance of Biotech Day. Submissions will be judged by the KU Edwards Campus science faculty for accuracy and clear communication of the answer. Awards will be given to the first correct submission by a high school student and the first correct submission by a College Freshman/Sophomore (as modified by penalties for the incompleteness of the answer). Winners’ names will be engraved on the Flash Science Fair plaque located in the Regents Center laboratory hallway.
Other Biotech Resources
Science Puzzle Materials
BTEC Capstone Projects
Educators
Ambreen Niaman
Analysis of Antioxidant and Antimutagenic Effect of Chlorogenic Acid, a Component in Coffee
The coffee plant was discovered in Ethiopia by a goat herder named “Kalidi” around 850 AD. He observed increased physical activity in goats after they consumed the beans of the plant. Since that time, coffee has become an everyday staple of life around the globe. While caffeine is responsible for much of the effects of coffee, chlorogenic acid (CGA), a polyphenolic compound in coffee, is an ester of quinic acid and caffeic acid believed to have antioxidant properties. One benefit of antioxidants is their ability to block mutations in healthy cells caused by free radical attacks. In this project, several questions will be explored regarding CGA, including what concentration of CGA is in commercially available coffee, whether CGA does exhibit antioxidant properties, and if it can block DNA mutation in bacteria. CGA will be quantified by HPLC (High-Performance Liquid Chromatography). The antioxidant activity of chlorogenic acid will be characterized in vitro by its ability to neutralize free radicals in a colorimetric assay and an Ames test will be used to measure its potential to block mutation in bacteria caused by a known mutagen. Overall, the results of this research project will contribute to our understanding of CGA as an antioxidant and its potential use as an antimutagen therapeutic.
Sponsors
