Biotech Day
Biotech Day
Friday, January 26, 2024 9:00 am-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 Fair. 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.
View project abstracts and online presentations.
Registration is full, but come back on Friday, January 26th, for the event livestream.
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 Fair Project
The Flash Science Fair engages late high school and early college students with a problem to be worked out and presented as a poster on Biotech Day. Submissions will be judged by the KU Edwards Campus science faculty and industry partners for accuracy and clear communication of the work. Awards will be given to the top submission by a high school student and the top submission by a College Freshman/Sophomore. Winners’ names will be engraved on the Flash Science Fair plaque located in the Regents Center laboratory hallway and receive monetary awards toward STEM programming at KU Edwards Campus.
You can find the material you need here:
Other Biotech Resources
Science Puzzle Materials
BTEC Capstone Projects
Educators
Camron Haas
The Biochemistry of Breweries: Targeting Biochemical Pathways to Prevent Beer Spoilage
Beer has been brewed for well over 4,000 years and humans have been perfecting the process all along the way. One problem that brewers still face is the development of off-flavors. Off-flavors are any specific flavor that does not fit with a particular style of beer. One common off-flavor that develops is a buttery taste. The cause of that off-flavor is a molecule called Diacetyl. Diacetyl is produced by yeast, but it enters the beer by leaving the yeast cell as the precursor molecule, α-Acetolactic acid (acetolactate). Breweries do reuse yeast cultures to some extent, however these cells only remain stable for a finite number of generations, after which a fresh culture must be used. This is because the yeast produce more diacetyl the 'older' they are, so the more batches that use the same yeast the more Diacetyl will be produced. This project will use an additive called acetolactate synthase inhibitor to control the production of Diacetyl. This inhibitor targets the production of Diacetyl's precursor molecule, acetolactate. This project will analyze the acetolactate synthase inhibitor's ability to lower the level of Diacetyl in beer. To accomplish this, an assay to detect levels of Diacetyl in beer will be created. This assay will then be used to compare the concentration of Diacetyl in beer that was fermented using yeast with the acetolactate synthase inhibitors vs. yeast that were not given any additives. It is expected that the yeast cells with the inhibitor should produce beer with less Diacetyl off-flavor as the additive blocks the synthesis of acetolactate in yeast. This could lead to significant cost reductions by requiring fewer fresh yeast cultures.
Sponsors
