A successful exhibition/minilab at Culture Night by the CCS
On the evening of October 14th, members of the DNRF Center for Chromosome Stability (CCS) held an exhibition/minilab entitled ‘Oplev DNA /Experience DNA’ as part of the Maersk Tower Culture Night activities. Nine CCS scientists participated as presenters or supervisors to guide the visitors through four activities. 
These were getting to know DNA and chromosomes and their relevance to human disease, watching videos of cells dividing, observing chromosomes of human cells under microscopes, and extracting DNA from bananas using household materials.
This was the 4th time that the CCS has held this minilab. Over the evening, it was estimated around 350 people stopped by to participate in the activities or ask questions.
Very similar to the previous years, ‘extraction DNA from bananas’ was the most popular activity, particularly amongst the young visitors (one was just 4 years old). 
About 90 visitors took part in this activity, all of whom successfully extracted DNA from banana cells. They were all very excited to see DNA floating in the test tube at the end of the experiment. A visitor, who is an economist, said he has really enjoyed this ‘hands-on’ activity and wished he had chosen to do a university degree in biology science! In addition, interesting questions were raised again by the visitors. For example, three visitors asked the same question of ‘can air pollution cause damage to human DNA?’, which shows the concern of environment hazard from the public; and one visitor, who has relatives with early onset cancer, asked ‘can CRISPR technology cure cancer’?
The CCS is very grateful for all the hard work from CCS members in preparing and presenting this exhibition/minilab.
The CCS also appreciates the great enthusiasm and curiosity from the visitors, which has made this exhibition/minilab very meaningful. The positive interaction with the public via this event has also inspired and encouraged the CCS members to pursue interesting questions relevant to human health.
The CCS looks forward to meeting the visitors next year at Culture Night.