Dunn:Education/Outreach/Maker Faire
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This was our second year participating in in Maker Faire, a two-day festival of art, science, and engineering that draws over 100,000 people from around the world. “Single molecules for the masses” is our goal and the title of the work we presented. Maker Faire showcases creations of all kinds and sizes, but our demonstration was one of the smallest, just several-billionth-of-a-meter in size. We explained how our lab uses "magnetic tweezers" to pull on single DNA and protein molecules. Surprisingly, magnetic tweezers are quite easy to build. Our display allowed participants to reach out and "touch" a single DNA molecule with the help of a refrigerator magnet and a simple light microscope. I think people really liked it! They could twist the DNA molecules by themselves, and then watch the DNA rewind in real time. The whole lab enjoyed sharing the ideas that we're passionate about with people from all walks of life. This is what Maker Faire is about, isn’t it?
