BU Research Blog

Fifteen Sixth Form students from Thomas Hardye School in Dorchester visited BU for a full-day workshop exploring the DNA of Wolbachia, a fascinating bacterium that lives inside insects and other arthropods. Hosted by Dr Demetra Andreou and Prof Genoveva Esteban from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, the hands-on workshop introduced students to the world of bioinformatics and DNA analysis. This fantastic learning experience was made possible thanks to the outstanding support of BU’s IT team, who went above and beyond to ensure the computers were ready in time for the workshop despite the short notice.

Before visiting BU, the students had already undertaken field and laboratory work as part of their school’s Genetics after-school club. They collected terrestrial insects from the school grounds and extracted their DNA, as part of an ongoing research collaboration with a partner school in Switzerland.

At BU, the students built on this work through a hands-on bioinformatics session, analysing bacterial DNA sequences using computational tools. They learned how to identify Wolbachia from their DNA sequences, compare them with samples from around the world, and explore DNA relationships. Throughout the day, the students demonstrated impressive enthusiasm, curiosity and analytical skills, tackling university-level scientific methods with confidence and engaging thoroughly with the data. Their findings will be presented at a symposium at Thomas Hardye School this autumn.

Science teacher Simon Lewis captured the impact of the visit in his feedback:

Another splendid day visiting Bournemouth University!  Thank you so much for giving us your time and leading the analysis of the DNA results. The students universally said how much they had enjoyed the visit, I think they got a real sense of achievement from “digging” into the data and finding a few things that none of us expected!  Thanks once again, it is definitely my favourite visit of the year!

The workshop was an inspiring introduction to university-level science, giving students first-hand experience of research while encouraging them to consider future pathways in higher education and scientific careers. As part of their visit, the group was shown around the campus, including SUBU, the library and teaching laboratories, giving them a taste of university student life.