Hello! Here is the third edition of our miRcore newsletter!
Here is the pun of the month!
“The virus fought the white blood cells, but it was in vein.”
To those who would like to know more about our Genes and Health Contest, here is a comprehensive summary of our event!
“The Genes and Health contest is our annual contest that we hold for all high school students grades 9-12 for the purpose of awarding those who work hard and who immerse themselves in genetics.
miRcore strives for science, compassion, and cooperation. As part of our mission we encourage our members to learn more about biology and gain skills in computational biology research. Every week we learn how to use genetics analyzing tools such as GEO2R, Linux, and String-db.org. When we research, knowledge such as DNA methylation and protein folding aids us in writing abstracts. These skills then became the premise of our Genes and Health contest.
The test consists of three parts, the biology test, the computational biology online research test, and the teamwork section. The biology portion consists of college level biology such as protein synthesis, DNA/RNA synthesis, protein denaturation, and much more. The computational biology portion assesses the skills of an individual with regards to using databases such as UCSC Genome Browser, String-db.org, and fasta sequences. This portion is done online. Lastly, the teamwork section is where we use our cooperation to work as a team to answer questions. Each student is randomly assigned to 3 or more individuals to play a game about biology topics. The top ranking teams get bonus points added to their individual score.
This past Genes and Health contest occurred Feb. 13th, 2016 with a great turnout! Over 100 students came to compete, even some from Ohio!”
In the past year, miRcore has successfully hosted the Genes and Health Contest, multiple fundraisers, and the miRcore Conference! The next year of miRcore is looking bright!
To top off the 2015-2016 newsletters we would like to say, “Thanks for reading and see you soon for next year!”
~miRcore Newsletter Committee 2015-2016