On April 17, a group of 24 students from the High School Affiliated to the Southern University of Science and Technology (HSAS) came to the School of Life Sciences at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) for a one-day scientific experiments workshop.

Under the guidance of four faculty members from the School of Life Sciences, the HSAS students and their teachers took part in a one-day research practice in the Life Science Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center.

According to the SUSTech-HSAS educational collaboration model, the high school will bring in SUSTech’s educational values and practices to train innovative international talents. It will promote high school curriculum reforms and explore international and customized education ideas and approaches. This workshop directly engaged with the SUSTech educational values of putting students’ development first.

The morning experiment involved the extraction of total protein from mammalian cells which destroyed the membrane structure of the cells through the action of lysates and collected the soluble solution of cell lysates through centrifuges. Yinglan ZHAO, one of the instructor of the workshop, went through the step-by-step process to obtain a sample and determine the protein concentration, while explained how the entire process requires protease inhibitors and low temperature to prevent protein degradation.

In the afternoon, they used mouse liver as a sample to learn the process of genomic DNA extraction. The workshop instructor Yue SHENG explained the experimental process to the students to give them a better understanding of the physical and chemical properties of DNA and RNA, proteins, lipids, along with other biological macromolecules. She also taught them about DNA concentration and purity detection methods.

Both Yinglan ZHAO and Yue SHENG acknowledged the efforts of all the students during the experiments. They noted that the apprentices for the day actively participated throughout, asked questions about the processes, completed the experiments, and provided pleasing results.

Both Mingjie ZHANG, Dean of the School of Life Sciences, and Peidong WANG, Principal of HSAS, noted the importance of this event as they explored this SUSTech-HSAS educational collaboration model. They hope to promote the educational link between both institutions and build a superior platform for the development of high school students.

Through the follow-up series of science lectures, scientific experiments, and other activities, they expect to peak further interest in students to discover more about other aspects of life sciences.