Middle School Students Tour Gates BioManufacturing Facility
Editorial photography and photojournalism have always been a passion of mine. And doing editorial photojournalism of Bell Middle School students as they toured the Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology was a treat.
Students from Bell Middle School peer into cutting-edge Gates Center facility.
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I love editorial photography. It’s been my pleasure to photograph various projects at The Gates Biomanufacturing Facility (GBF) over the past several years. I’ve created professional business style portraits for the directors as well as the Advisory Board of The Gates Center. I’ve done editorial photography of GBF tours back in 2013 when it was still under construction and we’ve had fun coming up with unique ideas for various group shots. Many images in The Gates Center 2014 and 2015 Annual Reports were done by DeCroce Photography. So when the request came to cover the first middle school field trip to The Gates Center, I jumped on it. Having a 6th grade son at McAuliffe International School in Denver, I was eager to see how kids of that age respond to both the science of and the philosophy behind modern biology. I was left with a thorough appreciation for how the message was delivered to the young scientists by Gates Center personnel. And I was equally impressed with the educators at Bell Middle School. These kids are on the road to brilliance.
Now, to answer the predominant question on the minds of readers unfamiliar with modern biology research. Embryonic stem cells are NOT used in research at The Gates Center. When one of the young students opened discussion by questioning the use of embryonic cells, Patrick Gaines, Director of The Gates Center, seized the opportunity. He posed hypothetical and thought-provoking scenarios which face modern biologists that awakened the kids’ budding philosophical judgement. “How long should a human cell live?” he pondered aloud. Patrick emphasized leaps made by science in the past 30 years as he roused the teenagers to envision their own careers. Scientists of tomorrow may face daunting decisions regarding human immortality.
Director of The Gates Center Patrick Gaines talks with budding scientists regarding the fundamental role of biology now and in the future
Students dressing in lab coats and protective glasses while on a field trip to the Gates Center For Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology.
Young students ponder big biology questions while on tour of the Gates Center at CU.
Lead Engineer and Director of Quality Assurance, Gabe Orosco talks with middle school students during tour.
The section below is from The Colorado University newsletter called CU Anschutz Today written by Steven Barcus.
The future of medicine is happening at the Gates Biomanufacturing Facility (GBF), and engineers are already working to hand it down to the next generation. The GBF hosted 30 seventh and eighth graders from Bell Middle School (BMS) to introduce them to drug treatments and cellular therapies produced through research in regenerative medicine and stem cell biology.
Touring the future
The tour included a preliminary discussion about the facility led by Lead Engineer and Director of Quality Gabe Orosco. Orosco discussed the work being done at the GBF and rapid growth of the field. He also emphasized how the students were already preparing for potential careers as researchers and scientists.
“Science isn’t just about the facts, it’s about the people who do it,” Orosco said. “Your ability to solve problems, ask questions, collaborate with your classmates and imagine new ideas is prepping you for actual scientific knowledge and for being able to do what I do.”
The tour included clean rooms, a “miniature hospital,” and development facilities and equipment such as microbial cell fermenters. Along the way Orosco and Gaines took questions about the current uses of stem cells and discussed the implications of their growing prominence in medicine.
“Manipulating adult stem cells and returning them to their embryonic-like state is a great power,” said Gaines. “It is important that these kids understand the potential uses and leave with a broad imagination about the kind of problems they can solve one day.”
The section above was written by Steven Barcus for Colorado University.
To see the entire story by Steve Barcus, please visit CU Anschutz Today
Patrick Gaines leads middle school tour of The Gates Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology.
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Please visit DeCroce photography to see other interesting works.
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