Science Communities was an outreach project run by Midlands Science in late 2021 that was funded by Science Foundation Ireland. Through a series of public forums, it provided a way for people to understand the scientific process, explore how evidence is generated and how we can use a scientific mindset to make decisions in our lives. We have taken this series of forums and developed 12 individual videos covering a range of topics including food, mental health, medication, vaccines and health choices. These 12 videos are suitable for TY students, students in senior cycle and members of the general public.
Listen back to Dr Finbarr O’Sullivan, Dublin City University, Associate Director in the National Institute for cellular Biotechnology covering how drugs are developed & tested for use on different diseases, how cell lines are used in research and how they are made resistant for use in research, Finbarr also explains MRNA and what it does.
This presentation explores how drugs are developed from the research work done in labs. It also includes ethical and historical issues in science such as the Hela line which came from a woman called Henrietta Lacks. How drugs interact with a cell is explored and how research happens using the example of research being done in Finbarr’s lab on pancreatic cancer. There is currently no screening for this caner and there are limited treatment options at present. There is a long pathway from this cell research that Finbarr does in his lab to creating medicines for humans, even though things that work well in the lab environment and results may be good nevertheless, there are a lot more challenges to overcome to get to a final useable medicine on the market.
Supporting workbook on all projects run by Midlands Science: https://online.fliphtml5.com/ydvji/bodm/#p=1
