EPIBOOST was in a secondary school

Introducing epigenetics and EPIBOOST to secondary school students and teachers

We are aware that epigenetics is a field of science that is largely unknown by non-specialists and that our biology education in schools is still attached to classical views on the deterministic role of genetics in development, local adaptation and evolution. In this way, an important mission in EPIBOOST is to make people aware of the relevance of epigenetics in defining phenotypes and the way life responds to environmental challenges. Hence, Guilherme Jeremias and Joana Pereira were very happy to accept the invitation of the Biology internship group of teachers in the Gondomar Secondary School (Portugal) to visit and give a talk on the 25 of March 2024. The talk was integrated in the pre-Easter holidays week and it was offered to students and teachers interested in knowing more about a new topic in Biology. The auditorium was full and Guilherme Jeremias explained interactively epigenetics in a nutshell, briefly presented the project, showing for the first time our first educational video. At the end of the talk, we were very happy to understand that several attendants visited the project website and got great results in the EPIBOOST quiz.
We are grateful to Alexandre Gandra and Vanessa Neves (intern teachers), as well as to their local supervisor (Nuno Correia) and external supervisor (Cecília Guerra, from the EPIBOOST team but now at the University of Porto) for this great opportunity!