On Saturday, November 8, the Institute participated in this cultural initiative taking place in the City of Buenos Aires with the aim of bringing scientific work closer to the community in a fun and entertaining way.
Around 4,500 people visited the stands set up by the institute at the Centro Cultural de la Ciencia (C3) as part of “La Noche de los Museos”.
Together with the Centro de Investigaciones en Bionanociencias (CIBION) and the Centro de Simulación Computacional (CSC), institutes with which IBioBA shares the building, they set up various stands with exhibitions related to their research topics.
At the IBioBA tables, questions such as the following were answered: Why do we sleep? How does information travel from the outside world to the brain? How are our neurons connected? How is all this studied? And why is it useful to know? The idea was to show how genes shape the way we see the world.
On this occasion, the proposals were dedicated to neuroscience. At the stand entitled “The fascinating journey of stimuli between neurons”, visitors were able to observe how electrical impulses are transmitted between neurons and, through their own experience, understand how the brain processes the information we receive from the outside world through our senses.
Meanwhile, at the other stand, called “Everything you need to know about genetics and sleep: are flies like us?”, visitors were able to observe mutant Drosophila melanogaster flies through magnifying glasses and understand how fruit flies can help us understand how our own neurons are born, function, and die. In addition, they talked about how genetic information is transmitted, and visitors had the opportunity to take a test to find out their chronotype.
In addition, a small art space was set up where the youngest visitors could draw their own Drosophila melanogaster flies.
Between 5 and 11 p.m., we welcomed people of all ages, from families with young children to adults, who participated with curiosity and enthusiasm in the activities. It was a great opportunity to meet and talk with people who were very interested in learning about the work done at the Institute.