School pupils take a sniff of the laboratory air at Amgen
The US Company Amgen, with 17,000 employees worldwide, is one of the largest and most important biotechnology companies. For ten years the German daughter company Amgen Research GmbH has been the sole research location external to the USA based in BioPark Regensburg and with 20 employees is looking for new active substances as building blocks for innovative medicines for the treatment of serious metabolic diseases and of cancer. For its 10th birthday the biotech pioneer has brought to life a programme in Europe to enthuse young people at school for the subject of biology. 35 pupils from 7 Regensburg grammar schools got the chance on the 21st and 22nd of July to take a sniff of real laboratory air at the BioPark. At comprehensive workshops enthusiastic pupils carried out experiments on DNA preparations or on fluorescent microscopy. Seeing the lack of workforce in this subject field, these interactive days were groundbreaking for the pupils, allowing them to get to know what everyday laboratory life is like for biological scientists and perhaps following their A levels they will make a decision to study in this direction.
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