Teachers in the UAE may soon receive genetic training from US experts at the Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory (CSHL) through multiple collaborations with the Higher Colleges of Technology.
Dr Bruce Stillman, President of the New York based CSHL, told Campus Notes on his visit to Abu Dhabi last week, that CSHL is exploring the possibility of opening up an arm of its Dolan DNA Learning Centre in the UAE.
What such a centre proposes to do is to establish a lab based system of science learning and DNA research. It will train locally based teachers – and consequently students – in advanced techniques in genetics and life sciences, to then be implemented into school and university curricula.
“There are a number of things we are interested in doing and we’ve been talking to the HCT about the idea of boosting science education through a programme CSHL runs called the DNA Learning Centre,” said Stillman.
With branches already in Australia, Singapore and Europe, Stillman envisions a genetic research centre for the Middle East based in the UAE’s capital.
“I could imagine setting up a centre up in Abu Dhabi and then mirroring it in other emirates, with Abu Dhabi becoming the centre from Middle Eastern education,” he added.
The CSHL is a private, not-for-profit research and education institution at the forefront of efforts in molecular biology and genetics. Its aim is to generate knowledge that will yield better diagnostics and treatments for cancer, neurological diseases and other major diseases.
Tackling genetic diseases
“There are high burdens of genetic diseases in this country such as thalassemia – a blood disease – so we think having the population understand genetics more could be beneficial,” he said.
Stillman said an emerging practice in the international medical community is to administer drugs based on individual genetic make-ups.
“It then becomes important to train physicians and the general population in a fairly simple understanding of genetics and how it impacts their lives,” said Stillman.
He said the international community is already involved a human genome project but has yet to focus on Arab countries and more specifically the UAE.
“A genome is the entire genetic make-up of an individual sequence which allows us to determine a precise genetic code,” he said.
Stillman explained that genetic coding and sequencing allows correlations to be made between DNA mutations and alternations in relation to a person’s medical history.
“This could be made relevant to the high incidences of diabetes in the UAE and Middle East as well as known inherited disorders such a cystic fibroses and psychiatric disorders,” he said. “So then one can start to think of how to deal it,” he added.
A bit of fun
Besides all the complicated science stuff, Stillman said genetics can be lots of fun. “We get students to solve DNA mysteries and crimes in the classroom, similar to the television programme CSI,” he said.
Scientists at the UAE University are already studying simple genetic diseases but they have much more complex ground to cover, said Stillman.
“The HCT is good at training students in the health sciences, so our science training programme could be easily integrated into the curriculum for students to learn sophisticated genetics,” he said.
“We have students in the US determining the sequence of their own genes and comparing them to other students around the world as well as analysing science on computers,” he added.
