On Saturday, September 30th, 2023, the “European Researchers’ Night 2023” event was held as part of the “Fascination with Innovations” activity. Streamline team members dr Andrijana Lazic, Jelena Pejić and Jovana Kostić presented our project to the visitors of this event through interactive presentations, drawings and games. The goal was to bring our research closer to the general public and explain to people what we actually do.
We introduced the visitors to cell reprogramming methodology and in vitro differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells to neurons and astrocytes. We have explained the advantages of this new model system compared to animal models, which have been used so far, to study the mechanisms of the onset of diseases as well as to test potential drugs.
We were visited by children of all ages as well as their parents and grandparents. We have tried to adapt the information and presentation method for each of them. Thus, the youngest visitors drew cells, the slightly older ones, after listening to a presentation on reprogramming and differentiation, put together the flow of the entire process by themselves, from isolating mononuclear cells from the patient’s peripheral blood to obtaining mature patient-specific neurons and astrocytes. While the oldest participated in the discussion and asked interesting questions, showing great interest in our project.
We hung out, talked, learned something new, made new acquaintances, and most importantly, we had fun. Thank you all for your visit, it was a pleasure to present our project to you and answer all of your questions.
