On Saturday July 26th, 33 youth (18 male/15 female) arrived at the Botswana-Baylor Children’s Clinical Centre of Excellence (COE) to learn about genomics as part of Teen Club, our psychosocial support and life skills education program. Why genomics? The Botswana-Baylor COE is currently the coordinating center for the Collaborative African Genomics Network (CAfGEN), which aims to integrate genetic and genomics technologies to probe host factors that are important to the progression of HIV and HIV-TB infection in sub-Saharan African children. The network is comprised of five sites – the Botswana and the Uganda Children’s Clinical Centers of Excellence provide clinical expertise for patient recruitment; Makerere University and the University of Botswana provide local molecular genetic expertise; and Baylor College of Medicine provides access to genomics expertise and resources that will ultimately be transitioned to African researchers and institutions in a sustainable manner.
Botswana and Uganda have some of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world at 23.4% and 7.2%, respectively. Combined, they have over 200,000 children living with HIV/AIDS.
The collaboration between Teen Club and CAfGEN provided an opportunity for the teens to learn more about genetics, health, and the importance of research in a creative and fun environment.
The session kicked off with an overview of CAfGEN by Masutlha, a research nurse at the COE. He explained the purpose of the study and a brief background of the CAfGEN project.
After the CAfGEN overview, the Teen Leaders - our elected group of teens trained in leadership and involved in event planning and implementation - lead the group through an “Introduction to Genetics”. The teens engaged in a brief discussion about what they already know about genes. Teen Leaders kept the group involved by asking questions such as “What are genes?”; “Have you ever wondered why you look like your parents?”; and “Why is it important to study genes?”. These questions allowed the Teen Leaders to facilitate a discussion about the basics of genetics and an introduction to genetic research in Africa.
Next, the group moved outside to spread out and do an interactive activity. The large group was split into 6 smaller groups that were lead by volunteers and Teen Leaders. The activity was called “Do Genes Matter?”. The volunteers and Teen Leaders read different traits and asked the teens to decide whether they thought the trait was determined by their genes all of the time, some of the time, or never. During this activity the teens discussed why they thought certain traits were genetically linked or not. Some of the traits were: height, preference for beef or chicken, skin color, likelihood of getting HIV, and athletic ability.
The final activity for Teen Club was another interactive activity to demonstrate trait inheritance. This activity is called “Pasta Genetics”. The teens were divided into 3 larger groups and 8 volunteers were asked to act as a family (consisting of a set of maternal grandparents, a set of paternal grandparents, a mother, a father, and 4 children). The volunteers that played the grandparent role were each given different shaped pieces of dried pasta that had been colored red, blue, green, or neutral. The volunteers that played the mother and father role were asked to close their eyes and select pasta from the hands of the respective set of grandparents. Finally, the volunteers for the children role were asked to select pasta from the mother and father. After each child selected they showed the group which colors and shapes of pasta they had selected at random and the group discussed how this might influence their traits.
After the interactive activities, the teens gathered with the Teen Leaders to discuss what they had learned. Although some had heard about genetics in school, many of the teens enjoyed learning about something new in an in-depth session that included moving around and the opportunity to ask questions. This month’s Teen Club was a true testament to teamwork as it took several helping hands to plan and implement this task. Special thanks to the Teen Leaders and volunteers that made learning about genetics so much fun!
CHECK OUT OUR PHOTOS BELOW AND SEE THE COOL ACTIVITIES WE DID!
Botswana and Uganda have some of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world at 23.4% and 7.2%, respectively. Combined, they have over 200,000 children living with HIV/AIDS.
The collaboration between Teen Club and CAfGEN provided an opportunity for the teens to learn more about genetics, health, and the importance of research in a creative and fun environment.
The session kicked off with an overview of CAfGEN by Masutlha, a research nurse at the COE. He explained the purpose of the study and a brief background of the CAfGEN project.
After the CAfGEN overview, the Teen Leaders - our elected group of teens trained in leadership and involved in event planning and implementation - lead the group through an “Introduction to Genetics”. The teens engaged in a brief discussion about what they already know about genes. Teen Leaders kept the group involved by asking questions such as “What are genes?”; “Have you ever wondered why you look like your parents?”; and “Why is it important to study genes?”. These questions allowed the Teen Leaders to facilitate a discussion about the basics of genetics and an introduction to genetic research in Africa.
Next, the group moved outside to spread out and do an interactive activity. The large group was split into 6 smaller groups that were lead by volunteers and Teen Leaders. The activity was called “Do Genes Matter?”. The volunteers and Teen Leaders read different traits and asked the teens to decide whether they thought the trait was determined by their genes all of the time, some of the time, or never. During this activity the teens discussed why they thought certain traits were genetically linked or not. Some of the traits were: height, preference for beef or chicken, skin color, likelihood of getting HIV, and athletic ability.
The final activity for Teen Club was another interactive activity to demonstrate trait inheritance. This activity is called “Pasta Genetics”. The teens were divided into 3 larger groups and 8 volunteers were asked to act as a family (consisting of a set of maternal grandparents, a set of paternal grandparents, a mother, a father, and 4 children). The volunteers that played the grandparent role were each given different shaped pieces of dried pasta that had been colored red, blue, green, or neutral. The volunteers that played the mother and father role were asked to close their eyes and select pasta from the hands of the respective set of grandparents. Finally, the volunteers for the children role were asked to select pasta from the mother and father. After each child selected they showed the group which colors and shapes of pasta they had selected at random and the group discussed how this might influence their traits.
After the interactive activities, the teens gathered with the Teen Leaders to discuss what they had learned. Although some had heard about genetics in school, many of the teens enjoyed learning about something new in an in-depth session that included moving around and the opportunity to ask questions. This month’s Teen Club was a true testament to teamwork as it took several helping hands to plan and implement this task. Special thanks to the Teen Leaders and volunteers that made learning about genetics so much fun!
CHECK OUT OUR PHOTOS BELOW AND SEE THE COOL ACTIVITIES WE DID!