Katie Birditt reflects on her visit to Alzheimer’s Research UK's London Network Open Day and why making research accessible is so important.
Like seeing the stars through a telescope for the first time. Those words were spoken to Professor Frances Edwards at her stand as a member of the public observed a fluorescently dyed neuron under the microscope. This statement is a wonderful testament to the impact that Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK) is having in engaging the public in a dialogue around dementia.
ARUK is one of the largest charities in the UK that funds dementia research and initiatives to promote greater understanding of the condition. The London Network Open Day they organised at UCL provided the public with a space to discuss some of the most exciting developments in the field with preeminent scientists. This event was suitable for anyone, from aspiring researchers and medical professors to families wanting to learn more about dementia. The day consisted of talks, poster stands, and activities designed to showcase the research being conducted at leading London institutions. Here I reflect on some personal highlights and hopefully encourage you to attend or get involved with your next local event.
Posters
My first stop was at the poster stands where an array of neuroscience research was being presented. Prior knowledge was not a prerequisite as all the studies’ key findings were highlighted in accessible, engaging ways. Before the day’s talks had even begun, I found myself on a whistle-stop poster tour of Alzheimer’s disease that took me from misbehaving proteins and faulty immune cells to blame for the disease to spatial transcriptomics (which has the misfortune of sounding more daunting than it really is!) Spatial transcriptomics is essentially a way of visualising and analysing RNA in the brain and identifying the ‘postcodes’ of these nucleic acids. DNA and RNA are both nucleic acids. However, double-stranded DNA stores genetic information while single-stranded RNA ensures that this information is used to make proteins. The transcription of DNA to RNA precedes protein production and can tell us a lot about abnormal processes in disease. When scientists mash brains up for experiments, information about where exactly the detected RNA has come from is inevitably lost. Spatial transcriptomics overcomes this problem by capturing RNA on barcoded surfaces where each barcode corresponds to a distinct tissue region. This ingenious approach allows for gene expression patterns to be compared across different parts of the brain. Spatial transcriptomics was unfamiliar terrain for me, but thanks to some friendly PhD students and post-doctoral researchers I enjoyed a great discussion about the potential of this method for neurodegenerative disease research.
It was incredible to see researchers and the public come together
Public Engagement and Pipetting
Each poster stand was accompanied by activities designed to start conversations around science. Abiding by journalism ethics and standards, I thought it was only right to give all the activities a go before writing about them! I applied some creative interpretation to images generated by fluorescent microscopy and put my pipetting ability to the test. It was a slightly surreal experience wielding a pipette and seeing a six-well plate outside its normal realm of the lab but once adjusted to the initial shock of this, I like to think some innate skills kicked in to warrant an impressive performance (disclaimer- no chemicals at all were involved in the participation of this activity, only some eager children and slightly competitive adults!) Who would have thought pipetting would be such an effective way of engaging the public and demystifying the inner workings of the lab.
Presentations
The talks encouraged the audience to consider various approaches to dementia research, management, and diagnosis. Everything from the therapeutic potential of newly emerging drugs to the promise of digital biomarkers was discussed. As someone who previously worked with rodent models to study Alzheimer’s, I was particularly intrigued by a talk from Professor Frances Edwards’, an academic at UCL. She talked about the relevance of improved mice models to understand Alzheimer’s disease. The use of animals in research is such a contentious topic, not only due to ethical considerations, but also because Alzheimer’s is highly unique to humans and therefore difficult to model accurately in mice. Moving away from a potentially flawed experimental paradigm where foreign genes are randomly integrated into rodent models and used to study disease progression, the Edwards lab conducts research on what’s known as knock-in mice. The older models had their place, but randomly inserting genes carries the risk of potentially confounding disruptions to other genes. These newer models in the Edwards lab are instead created through the targeted insertion of genes associated with developing Alzheimer's, allowing scientists to study important pathological relationships without impacting other gene expression. Professor Edwards and her team use these knock-in mice to investigate synaptic dysfunction in relation to the pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s with the aim of discovering early disease-associated changes and identifying promising drug targets.
When speaking to Professor Edwards about the 2023 ARUK Network Open Day, she said her highlights were the “enlightening questions” from the public and the opportunity to “walk around and see the different displays that underline the wide variety of research going on across London”. I personally found it incredible to see researchers and the public come together, united on a shared quest to learn more about the devastating condition that is likely to affect us all in some way. It is easy to have a narrow overview of research, confining it to the realms of laboratories, academic journals, and symposiums. However, this ARUK event emphasised the importance of widely sharing research and making it accessible to those who will be impacted by it. As spatial transcriptomics shows us, information matters but context is important.
This article was written by Katie Birditt and edited by Ailie McWhinnie. Interested in writing for WiN UK yourself? Contact us through the blog page and the editors will be in touch!
Comments