Today my class and I went to the L'Oréal Young Scientist centre to perform a practical on Bacterial Evolution. The L'Oréal Young Scientist centre was founded in 1799 by Benjamin Thompson and was where 10 elements of the periodic table were discovered.

When we first arrived at the centre, we were met by two working scientists and were given a talk on the safety precautions to take when entering the laboratory. After we had our sterile gloves and lab coats on, we begun! First, we looked at the bacteria Streptococcus pyogenes and identified its features. Next, we explored the illnesses caused by this bacteria which were Necrotizing Fascittis and Strep throat. We were then given four random samples of DNA from patients and were shown how to identify if they had these illnesses or not.

We were given six test tubes and then learnt how to use a micropippete. After, this we performed gel electrophoresis to separate the DNA, and identify if any of the patients had these illnesses. We did this by adding the gel into the electrophoresis chamber and filling it up with water. We then added solution to the holes in the gel, being careful to change our pippete tips to ensure our experiment did not get contaminated.After this, we wore special orange glasses and looked at the base pairs to identify which patients had which illness. The patients who had  Necrotizing Fascittis would have to be treated with strong antibiotics and amputation of affected areas could be considered. The patients with Strep throat would have to be treated with weak antibiotics.

Overall, The experience at L'Oréal Young Scientist centre was amazing and I am so grateful that I got the opportunity to be a scientist for the day. My friend Aman described the practical as 'interesting' and my friend Shanti said that the experience was 'really fun'.The L'Oréal Young Scientist centre is a fantastic laboratory space for students and I would recommend a visit for anyone who truly wants to see the home of science.