Unveiling the epigenetic switches behind immune responses

Suitable for 14-to-19-year olds (secondary and high schools, and college), this article and accompanying activity sheet can be used in the classroom, STEM clubs and at home.

This resource links to KS4 and KS5/Grade 9-10 and Grade 11-12 biology.

It can also be used as a careers resource and links to Gatsby Benchmarks (UK):
Gatsby Benchmark 2: Learning from career and labour market information
Gatsby Benchmark 4: Linking curriculum learning to careers

• This teaching resource explains the work of Professor David Langlais, a genomicist at McGill University. He is investigating transcription factors and the epigenome impact the immune system.

• This resource also contains an interview with David and his colleague, Dr Mathieu Mancini, and offers an insight into careers in genomics.

• The activity sheet provides ‘talking points’ (based on Bloom’s Taxonomy) to prompt students to reflect on David’s research and challenges them to contact a scientist to learn more about real-world research.

This resource was first published by Futurum Careers, a free online resource and magazine aimed at encouraging 14-19-year-olds worldwide to pursue careers in science, tech, engineering, maths, medicine (STEM) and social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy (SHAPE).

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