Cybersafety Excursion

Biology students visit La Trobe University

Year 11 and 12 - Unit 3 Biology students spent half a day at La Trobe University on the 27th of May to take part in ELISA ASSAY. The morning session involved research work involving flu antibody detection. Students then attended a lecture given by a University Professor who demonstrated various components of the immune system. The 2nd session involved Unit 3 AOS 2 revision given by Dr. Jef which allowed students to practice exam questions and skill strategies. Students enjoyed laboratory work as the task gave students a chance to partake in the ELISA test. Students worked on the following topics:

Practical workshop: Immunology and Disease

• Background information: Infection with a pathogen or foreign particle produces a range of defence responses in humans. One of the responses is the stimulation of antibody production by the immune system.
  - Antigens are usually proteins (foreign to the body), that can trigger an immune response. Antibody production is just one of these responses!
  - Antibodies (also known as Immunoglobulins or Ig) are proteins that the body makes in response to an antigen. Every different antigen that enters a body induces a specific antibody to be produced. After exposure to a pathogen or its antigens the matching antibody-producing cells are primed to respond very rapidly when the antigen is detected again. They release large amounts of antibodies specific to that antigen into the blood and stimulate killer cells to destroy the invading cells.
  - Influenza is common in many parts of the world and is caused by viruses.

• Task: The constant evolution of the influenza virus poses an unpredictable threat of high fatality pandemics. Most people do not consider influenza (flu) to be a deadly disease. However, the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak, estimated to have killed 30-40 million people, shows that it can be catastrophic! Many of us are exposed to and recover from the seasonal flu on an annual basis but occasionally a flu strain emerges that is new to human immune systems and can potentially lead to a pandemic.
  - Students were presented with a simulated case study in which a spreading cluster of high fatality influenza-infection related deaths are newly identified in South East Asia. Using microscopy, students identified the different cells that participate in an innate immune response and then discovered which immune cells are responsible for the new high fatality influenza infections.
  - In the next experiment, students used an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) to diagnose whether 'patients' arriving back into Australia with flu-like systems are infected with the new influenza strain. Here, students gained hands on knowledge about the properties of adaptive cells and why antibody-based technology can be used for medical diagnostics and disease research purposes.