“Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020 -Development of a method for genome editing” was the topic of the peer talk presented by Ms. Fatima Abdullah and Ms. Najia Huda, final year students of the BBMS program. This was arranged as a part of the co-curricular activities in the program. The aim of the session was to make students aware of latest research and scientific developments in the field of biomedical sciences.
The talk began with Ms. Fatima giving a timeline of the discoveries from 2002 which finally culminated in 2012 in the form of a method for editing the genome using CRISPR-CAS. She proceeded in a simple but clear fashion to make the topic understandable by students of year 1 and proceeded to explain the complexities of the topic very well to the senior students as well. Ms. Najia Huda focused on the importance of the discovery and its application in medicine as well as the future ethical issues and challenges that could arise if the scientific community did not exercise control.
The session was informative and interesting and was received very well by students who were both face to face as well as online. For the students presenting it, it was an opportunity to learn more about the topic as well as to develop their presentation skills.