"Doing Real Science, Doing Real Science" - Tsinghua High School - ABE Program Successfully Ends

With cutting-edge scientific research leading to the cultivation of cutting-edge talents, the CLS has taken the initiative to undertake public affairs and public education since its inception, striving to raise the level of science popularization and scientific spirit of the whole society. In addition to sharing the latest research achievements of the CLS, the CLS will introduce the Amgen Biotech Experience (hereinafter referred to as "ABE") program, a global hands-on science project, in 2021.

    On June 14, 2023, 16 students from the G21 senior class of the Affiliated High School of Tsinghua University went to the Biomedical Museum of Tsinghua University to participate in the completion ceremony of the ABE program. The project activities lasted for one semester and covered more than 500 students in the second year of senior high school. It was the first time for the ABE project to enter a high school campus in mainland China, and it was also the one with the largest impact. Mr. Liu Dong, Associate Dean of the School of Life Sciences at Tsinghua University, Ms. Jiang Yi, Director of the Office of the Joint Center for Life Sciences at Tsinghua University and Peking University (hereinafter referred to as the "CLS"), and ABE program leader in mainland China, Ms. Liu Jian, Biology Team Leader of Tsinghua Middle School, and program instructor Cui Cherry, and classroom teachers Wang Xuan and Xu Min participated in this ceremony. The program was completed in a ceremony.

    First of all, Mr. Jiang Yi made a closing speech to congratulate the students for completing the course, then introduced what the ABE program is, elaborated that the Life Center undertakes the ABE program to lead the development of science education, and that the ABE program simulates the process of innovative drug discovery and development, and that bringing scientific research into the classroom is more adaptable to the needs of scientific and technological development and industrial change for talents.

​

Jiang Yi gave a closing speech

    Afterwards, Shao Jiale and Fu Yihan, representatives from Tsinghua Middle School, shared their experiences of participating in experiments and reading and discussing the scientific research results of Chinese scientists in the school-based course "ABE Program - Genetic Engineering Experiments" (hereinafter referred to as the "school-based course"); and Han Jiaying, representative of the trainees, shared her experiences and gains from the ABE Program - PCR, Enzyme Cleavage and Electrophoresis (hereinafter referred to as the "500-people experimental course"), which was integrated into the regular system of courses.

​

Jiale Shao: "The essence of all beauty in the world lies in the genes that determine biological traits, and the opportunity to participate in the ABE program was so valuable that I didn't hesitate to choose this elective!"

​

Yihan Fu: "When I saw the red colony appear, all my previous fatigue vanished, letting me know that giving always pays off!"

Jiaying Han: "The feedback from the students on the 500-person lab class was great. It was fun to learn theories in the textbook that could eventually be verified through experiments!"

Wang Xuan, a representative of the teacher in the class, shared the implementation of the ABE program in Tsinghua Middle School and his reflections. The school-based classes aim to innovate and elevate, stimulate students' interest and inspire career development. The 500-member laboratory class aims to connect theory with practice and provide students with real exposure to microscopic and abstract genes, PCR and other modern life sciences. Wang Xuan shared the experience of integrating ABE curriculum, high school standard requirements and successful implementation, and analyzed the results of the course, proposing the idea of low classroom and economic costs that can be replicated and radiated to more middle schools.

​

Wang Xuan of Tsinghua Middle School shared the implementation of the curriculum

    Ms. Liu Jian, the head of the Biology Team of Tsinghua Middle School, then delivered a speech, expressing her heartfelt gratitude for the help given by the Life Center and the ABE program, and looking forward to the further strengthening of the cooperation between Tsinghua University and Tsinghua Middle School in science education in the context of the Opinions on Strengthening Science Education in Primary and Secondary Schools in the New Era (hereinafter referred to as "Opinions"), which was promulgated in the near future, so as to strengthen the top-level design of the curricula and teaching materials, experimental teaching, teachers' cultivation, practical activities, and the conditions of guarantee, and other aspects.

​

Speech by Liu Jian, Tsinghua High School

   Finally, Mr. Liu Dong, Associate Dean of School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, gave a scientific report on "Theory and Practice of Crop Genetic Modification", which used vivid and informative cases of scientific history to lead students to experience the fun of scientific logical reasoning and to understand the whole process of scientific discovery to engineering practice and application.

​

Lecture by Prof. Liu Dong from Tsinghua University

    Tsinghua High School participant Wu Hongyue said, "At the end of the ABE program debriefing, Mr. Liu Dong, Associate Dean of the School of Life, taught us about genetically modified crops. We already knew the basic principles of the Agrobacterium transformation method from our textbooks. However, I was impressed by Mr. Liu Dong's introduction of the discovery process of Agrobacterium transformation. Plant tumors have been discovered for a long time, but the problem can be solved by spreading pesticides. So why are scientists willing to explore the mechanism of tumor production? Is it because they know that there is a revolutionary plant transgenic technology behind it? No, it is out of curiosity about the unknown. It is not enough to study for practical purposes. The observation of a phenomenon is always ahead of the realization of the meaning of that phenomenon. If it is always useful to study it, then it will inevitably lag behind and never even have the chance to reveal the meaning. I think this spirit of curiosity brought me a profound reminder."

After the course closing ceremony, the students visited Professor Wang Xinquan's laboratory at Tsinghua University under the leadership of Mr. Xu Min to learn about the process of structural analysis of the new coronavirusproteins.

（Translated by deepl）