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Now high school students can discover the invisible superpowers of microbes at a new interactive website
DTU Biosustain has published an interactive website to engage high school students and curious explorers of all ages, in microbes and understand their extraordinary capabilities.
Microbes are fascinating invisible organisms who each work with a clear target, are highly adaptive to their environment, and are a crucial part of our existence and the shape of our planet.
DTU Biosustain wants to nourish the curiosity for microbes among young people and raise awareness of how microbes can actually help us solve some of our most pressing planetary problems.
The innovative, interactive website is called MicrobeXplorer and it is targeted toward high school students and beyond as a fun and engaging way of acquiring knowledge about microbes.
A new way of communicating science to young people
This is a new way of communicating science to young people and all the curious people at heart.
In addition to being fun and engaging, the aim for MicrobeXplorer is to be used as a support tool in high school biology, chemistry and biotechnology courses in Denmark and around the world. At the moment it’s accessible in English, and the Danish version is ready within a few weeks.
The site is built in close cooperation with some of our researchers, highlighting the research and knowledge generated every day at DTU Biosustain, and with guidance from a focus group of local high school students, educators, LIFE Foundation and Experimentarium who provided key ideas and suggestions for us to bring to life.
What can you find in MicrobeXplorer
The main focus of the site is four microbial worlds to explore:
- Truffles – describes non-yeast fungi, underground networks, and their application in modern-day solutions.
- E. coli – introduces the microbe and its cellular composition, synthetic biology, bacterial engineering, gene diversity and putting cell factories to use.
- Yeast – from the history of yeast, to its fermentation power, to scaling for industrial manufacturing.
- Food – our failing food system, foods made with microbes, our gut microbiome, and the growing potential of microbial food.
You can also find a glossary, resources for further study and an introduction to some of the exciting careers possible within this scientific field.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact Vanesa Sánchez Guajardo (vansag@biosustain.dtu.dk), project manager of the site.