University Professor gives college students a Biology lesson

A Birmingham City University (BCU) professor visited Walsall College to run a masterclass on genetics and DNA to its Applied Science students.

Dr Pat James, Head of Department of Health Sciences at BCU, gave Level 3 students a demonstration of how to extract cells from a human cheek.

Students were tasked to extract cells from a cheek sample, and stain them so they can observe them through a light microscope.

They were then shown how to extract DNA from the cells, and to identify the different fragments of DNA using electrophoresis, a technique used in laboratories to separate large molecules according to their size.

Dr Pat James later delivered a talk on careers within the NHS in biomedical science, including Clinical Scientist, Radiographer, Microbiology, and food and nutrition.

Manoher Singh, Lecturer in Science at Walsall College, said: “This is a great opportunity for our students to learn from a university professor and to find out about careers in biomedical science.

As a college, we aim to link education to the world of work, and we ensure that our students are aware of the number of career routes open to them.

Due to the broad nature of the Applied Science course, it can open up options to progress on to a range of university courses and into careers, such as medical science, engineering, environmental science, health sciences, as well as some entry level jobs in laboratories, research, food science and product development.

Feedback from the masterclass has been overwhelmingly positive, and we aim to run more masterclasses such as this in future.”

Walsall College offer Applied Science courses at Levels 2 and 3. To find out more, take a look at our V6 Couse Guide, which can be picked up from either of the college’s campuses or downloaded online.

For more information about enrolling on a course at Walsall College, please call 01922 657000.