LMB scientists showcased their work at the Cambridge Festival with a hands-on activity and an artistic piece about body clocks and a talk about research on tuberculosis
Time of Your Life
During the first weekend of the 2024 Cambridge Festival, LMB scientists offered a hands-on activity at the Cambridge Academy for Science and Technology, giving visitors the opportunity to learn all about their body clocks. Over 300 people participated in the “Time of Your Life” activity and learned about the pervasive influence of our body clock in our day-to-day life and the impact of circadian rhythms at the cellular level.
Children and adults took part in the interactive “Chronolympics” games to find out the daily variability in various activities and also found out what kind of bird their chronotype corresponds to: larks, golden orioles, robins, nightingales or owls. The activity was developed by John O’Neill and Michael Hastings’ groups in the Cell Biology and Neurobiology Divisions respectively, and was delivered by: Andrew Beale, Jack Munns, Aiwei Zeng, Anna Edmonson, Nathan James, Andrei Mihut Beverley Cook, Elfy Chiang, Laura Whitworth, and Anna Albecka-Moreau.
After the event, some of them commented on their experience: “It was great to see the level of enthusiasm the kids had for the activities and recording their scores by adding stickers to our graphs – lots of future scientists in attendance. We also had a lot of curiosity about circadian rhythms from the adults, and a number of pleasantly surprised people who found out they were more ‘robin’ than ‘owl’.”
The Circadian Dance & the Firefly
Nicola Smyllie, from Michael Hastings’ group, took part in the Cambridge Creative Encounters project by the University of Cambridge. She was paired with Anita Acero, an art student from the Cambridge School of Visual and Performing Arts (CSVPA) to create the animation “The Circadian Dance & the Firefly”, inspired by Nicola’s research on the circadian clock.
Anita decided to use the firefly as the main character of the piece, inspired by the firefly luciferase protein used by researchers to see the daily rhythms of the circadian clock in brain slices. In addition to this, she used what she learned from discussions with Nicola to create a visual interpretation of the negative impact that misalignment between our busy lifestyles and our circadian clock has on our biology.
Nicola commented: “I have found the experience fascinating to see the evolution of artistic ideas over the course of the project. I invited Anita to visit the LMB so she could see, first-hand, how we study the circadian clock in the lab. It was very interesting to see what elements she was drawn to and ultimately included in her art piece. Throughout the project we were in regular contact, bouncing ideas between each other, and exploring different ways in which the science could be visualised. Our final piece is something that is hopefully relatable with the use of humour, but yet also intriguing in its abstract nature.”
Tuberculosis: A Fishy Tale about a Deadly Disease
On the final weekend of the Festival, which coincided with World Tuberculosis Day, Jonathan Shanahan, from Lalita Ramakrishnan’s group in the Cell Biology Division and the University of Cambridge’s Molecular Immunity Unit (housed at the LMB), gave a talk on tuberculosis research. In his fun, visual, and interactive talk, he explained how tuberculosis attacks and how the body defends itself. He presented some of his research, explaining how zebrafish are so important to investigating why tuberculosis has been such a persistent adversary. There was plenty of opportunity for audience participation via phone-based polls, quizzes, and word clouds, and at one point, a barrage of flying balls!
For those unable to see the talk in person, it is available to watch on the LMB’s YouTube channel.
Further references
Cambridge Festival
LMB Public Engagement
Cambridge Creative Encounters
LMB showcases the beauty of the microscopic world at the Cambridge Festival