BioLab

In the BioLab, the focus is on the human organism and the processes of life taking place on the cellular and molecular levels. Current scientific methods allow us not only to observe biological processes and make them visible, but also to intervene in them in many ways.

Our thirst for knowledge has not only enabled us to make the most minute biological structures and processes, such as those in a cell, visible and to learn more and more about them — we can now even intervene and change these processes at the most minute level.

Advances in this field are occurring at a rapid pace: whereas the first attempt to decode the human genome took more than 7 years, today we can do it within a few days. And the use of artificial intelligence is opening up still more possibilities in this area of research. On one hand, it gives us important insights that can be used for treating illnesses, for example. On the other hand, these developments always entail ethical considerations: for one thing, predictions about possible future illnesses based on the genetic information of individuals are not always welcome. Moreover, new approaches are continually being added, such as stem cell research or “tissue engineering” — the artificial production of biological tissues.

Recently much discussion has taken place around the gene splicer CRISPR/Cas9, which can add, remove, or turn off genes with precision, because it has both positive and negative potential. In the BioLab, visitors can explore CRISPR/Cas9, the isolation of DNA, the cultivation of cell cultures and other methods from a wide range of biological fields.

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