Get hands-on with cancer research in Cambridge
Date: 16th March 2023, 11 - 4pm
Venue: CAST Building, Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, CB2 0SZ
Drop-in Event, no booking required
Website: www.festival.cam.ac.uk/events/get-hands-cancer-research-cambridge
Join researchers and staff from the Early Cancer Institute on Saturday 16th March to get hands-on with cancer research in Cambridge at the Big Biomedical Campus Day.
The interdisciplinary Cambridge Festival is a mixture of on online, on-demand and in-person events covering all aspects of the world-leading research happening at Cambridge, taking place from Wednesday 13th to Thursday 28th March 2024.
The Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre will be in the Cambridge Academy for Science and Technology (CAST) Building on Saturday 16 March from 11:00am – 4:00pm giving you the chance to learn more about the ground-breaking cancer research being undertaken by scientists and clinicians across Cambridge!
The Early Cancer Institute will be running two fun activities which will help you to learn more about early cancer detection. First, you can play Epigenetic needles in a haystack - Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) circulates freely in the blood and comes from a variety of sources. Scientists can take a blood sample and look for cfDNA to see if it contains markers for cancer, but it is like trying to find a needle in a haystack! You'll hunt for the cfDNA 'needle' in our haystack and then will use magic light to decode its message to see if it is derived from a cancer.
In our second activity become a cancer detective using a sponge on a string! The capsule sponge test is a quick and simple way to check someone's food pipe for signs of Barrett’s Oesophagus, a potentially precancerous condition where some cells in the lining of the oesophagus have become abnormal and more at risk of turning into cancer. Take a look inside the body with our model, Norman, as our specialist nurses demonstrate how the capsule sponge test works. You'll then collect your own cells from two 'patients' in our special game and can probe them for Barrett's Oesophagus.
There will be many more interactive exhibits from our partner institutes and programmes at the CRUK Cambridge Centre including experiments, informative demonstrations and plenty of fun activities for children and adults of all ages, such as:
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Sweet DNA sequence bracelets
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Toxicity trek and exploring trial eligibility
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What’s my wee telling me?
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Keyhole surgery simulators
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Jelly brain surgery and neuropathology
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Virtual Reality Cancer Laboratory
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Teddy bear radiotherapy
For more information about this event visit www.festival.cam.ac.uk/events/get-hands-cancer-research-cambridge where you can also find a programme of ALL the Cambridge Festival events.