AISSU兩位“小小科學家”探索神奇的DNA世界

天文學家卡爾?薩根曾經說過：“每個人在他們幼年的時候都是科學家，因為每個孩子都和科學家一樣，對自然界的奇觀滿懷著好奇和敬畏。”

深大師院國際高中致力于向不同層次的學生提供各種機會，鼓勵學生獨立思考、不斷探索，注重培養學生的國際視野、前沿意識和人文素養，旨在將學生培養為全面發展、英語特長的國際人才。

這個寒假，AS年級陳本銓（左）、余鴻寬（右）兩位同學在學校的大力推薦下，帶著對生物科學的好奇和不可遏止的求知欲望，參加中信銀行聯合生物行業龍頭企業華大基因共同打造的超高含金量背景提升項目——未來生物學家之基因探秘。

在專業指導老師的帶領下，他們探秘我國首個獲批籌建的基因庫，學習生命遺傳物質DNA的各種知識，利用頂級實驗室設備進行“如何用基因測序鑒定物種”、“DNA指紋圖譜與司法偵查”、“親手操作轉基因”、“運動基因揭秘”四大經典基因實驗項目……極大地開拓了科學視野，鍛煉了科學思維。

他們盡情在生物學的海洋里徜徉，大口吮吸著新鮮的生物知識，利用這6天學到的知識以及收集到的文獻資料，并結合自己的想法，分析科學話題，暢談基因知識。

憑借積極的態度和突出的表現，陳本銓、余鴻寬兩位同學均拿下“優秀學員”的榮譽稱號！

陳本銓、余鴻寬獲“優秀學員”

AISSU老師到場支持雖然項目只有短短6天，但兩位同學均表示受益良多。

在這里，他們也將分享自己的感受。

AS-4 余鴻寬我很榮幸能代表學校參加此次活動，這次活動對我來說意義非凡。

首先，這是一個非常有含金量的實操性活動。

華大學院的實驗室里有很多非常先進的儀器設備，在老師的指導下，我完成了許多相對復雜和高要求的實驗。

例如，華大學院的實驗室里配備有非常精確的移液槍，這也是我第一次親眼見到并親手操縱這種儀器。

在做實驗的時候我就可以提取到以微升為單位的液體，這樣既增加了實驗的精確性，又不用浪費太多材料。

這么多實驗中，令我印象最深刻的實驗是DNA條形碼實驗。

這個實驗的原理就是在魚肉細胞的線粒體中，有一個DNA序列叫做CO1，每種魚的CO1序列都是不同的，通過檢測這個序列并拿到數據庫去比對，我們就能很清楚地知道這個魚的品種了。

我們先切了一小塊魚肉，之后加入裂解液裂解細胞；加入裂解液后利用離心的方法，魚肉細胞里的油會浮在最上層；利用移液槍將油抽出后，加入無水乙醇去溶解除DNA以外的雜質；

之后向試管里加入硅去吸附DNA，并把無水乙醇濾走；往硅固體里加入水，DNA便會融在水里，把硅過濾掉就得到了只含有DNA片段的溶液，經過

擴增后就可以拿去數據庫比對了。

其次，華大學院的老師們都有淵博的學識。

在帶領我們做實驗的同時，又不斷地給我們復習和鞏固已經學過的知識，此外還普及了一些非常前沿的知識，這讓我們開拓了視野。

我記得最清楚的就是華大的老師們向我們介紹第二代DNA測序儀的工作原理，讓我們了解到科技的發達讓DNA測序變得快捷和準確。

對于我來說，經過這次活動后，我對生物信息學萌生了興趣，因為這門學科是計算機科學和生物學的交叉，或許不久的將來我將會申請這個major。

我推薦對生物感興趣和選了生物課的同學有機會的話參加這個活動，因為這個活動做的所有實驗都是和A-Level生物對標的，在鞏固知識的同時又能接觸很多前沿的生物方面的東西，這無疑是非常有價值的。

最后，我想表達一下我的感激之情。

感謝學校老師的認可和支持，推薦我去這樣一個高水平的活動，讓我有機會和其他優秀的學生一起競爭、學習；感謝我的父母，感謝他們能理解并允許我在開學后參加活動；

感謝中信銀行的李老師，是她每天陪著我們一起去華大學院，并且在午餐上對我們多加照顧；感謝華大基因的各位老師們，是你們教會了我許多前沿的知識和

實驗的規范，這將會對我今后的學習產生有利的影響。

AS-1 陳本銓

It is widely held among biology teachers and the scientific community that fieldwork is valuable, but little is heard about students' perception of fieldwork or about the reasons for their liking or disliking fieldwork.

However, right after the spring festival, a special team comprising of eight high-school students who aspire to make our contributions in the future field of biology met at the BGI headquarters under the guidance of a responsible teacher from the CITIC Bank.

On the first day, eight future biologists went to the National Genome Library where we started a journey of exploration in bioscience and gene technology.

 At this databank ,cutting-edge scientific equipment and rich examples of animals and plants really blow our minds.

Then for the rest of the journey, we stayed at the laboratory, learned about lab safety instructions and  conducted a series of biological experiments ,including DNA barcoding and fish DNA extraction, Forensic detection and DNA fingerprinting, analyzing our athletic genes and PCR technique and so on.

Among theses marvellous experiments , the one I fancy the most is the human ACTN3 gene and PCR simply because it tells me which type of muscle fibres I have, slow twitch(Type 1) muscle fibers or fast twitch(Type 2) muscle fibers.

First of all, we collected our DNA via saliva and added a host of different agents(i.e.lysis buffers, binding buffers and proteinases) into it to extract our DNA.

Then we have them undergone PCR reactions in thermal cylcers and finally used gel electrophoresis and a UV imaging system to see which type we belong to.

Unsurprisingly, I find myself to be RX type, a balance reached between type 1 and 2 muscle fibres.

On the final day, we gave our presentations in the form of two members in a group, and my group was assigned the topic of gene editing.

In the preparations for this topic, I looked into the goals, methods and applications of editing genes.

My partner Luna and I talked about the latest and most advanced tool called CRISPR, or more correctly CRISPR-CAS9 which is, undoubtedly, changing the entire field of biology.

It was originally described as an immune system in bacteria and archea against the invasion of virus, which was probably the oldest war waged on the earth.

Basically, this immune response is all about the protein-RNA duo.

When some of bacteria get infected by a virus, they save a chunk of its genome in a long string-like DNA called crispr locus and they use each chunk of DNA as a template to synthesize a similar molecule called RNA.

 Here, this protein acts as a guide to find the matching DNA and Cas9 is simply a nuclease cutting wherever its boss, guide RNA, tells it to.

So the next time ,this virus shows up ,the guide RNA find the matching chunk of DNA and calls over Cas9 to chop it up and destroy it.

To summarise, this unique experience at BGI lab with all these patient and knowledgeable mentors successfully overthrew how I perceive the subject biology and again taught us the vital importance of cooperation and teamwork.

Finally, just like what BGI says and does all the time, their aspiration as well as ours now is to use genomics to benefit the human race in the future.