Educators from Hogeschool Leiden, mboRijnland and Curio came together in Leiden for a hands-on Talent-CGT Teach-the-Teacher workshop focused on CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing and cell and gene therapy.
Rather than only hearing about the technology, educators stepped into the lab themselves. Using a GFP knockout assay in K562 cells, they worked with nucleofection and explored how gene-editing efficiency can be analyzed using flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy.
The aim went beyond learning the techniques. The workshop introduced educators to the principles of CRISPR and different experimental approaches, while the practical work itself was conducted at a more advanced level than would typically be used with MBO students.
By experiencing it firsthand, MBO educators gained a stronger foundation for deciding how these concepts and approaches could be translated into meaningful learning experiences for their own students.
The practical course was developed, prepared and taught by Martie Verschuren and Margaretha Kaijen-Lambers from Avans University of Applied Sciences, with Bart Appelhof and Boet van Riel from Hogeschool Leiden helping make the workshop possible.
Bringing educators from MBO and higher education together is an important part of building stronger pathways into cell and gene therapy. Workshops like this create opportunities to share expertise, strengthen educators’ understanding of emerging technologies and explore how advanced scientific concepts can be adapted for different levels of life sciences education.
