After Dark: Cells to Self

You may have learned in science class that cells are small, simple building blocks for organisms, piled together by the billions to make even the simplest biological processes happen. Prepare to have your cellular understanding turned upside down: cells come in a vast range of sizes and degrees of complexity. They can walk, hunt, solve mazes, and do other complicated tasks.  Change your perspective on what a cell can be and do with UCSF cell biologist Wallace Marshall from the Center for Cellular Construction. 

Programming the Cellular Machine With the Lim Lab 8:30 

Every cell in your body is a living microscopic machine, capable of performing complex functions. And just like any other machine, a cell can be programmed. Get to know the design rules of cellular networks and find out how scientists can apply them, engineering cells that perform novel and useful functions like seeking out and destroying cancers. Come hear UCSF Professor Wendell Lim discuss how we can engineer these smart and incredibly precise cellular machines to treat human diseases. 

Ongoing

You vs. Flu With the National Center for Science Education 6:30

In an interactive game of you vs. flu, who wins? Team up with the National Center for Science Education in a race against time: solve an epidemiological mystery and prevent a flu pandemic. “Visit” five different countries, work collaboratively to solve clues and identify the source of the outbreak, and go into the lab to build an effective vaccine before pandemic sets in.  

Programming the Body, Cell by Cell With the Lim Lab 6:30

Your body is made up of living, microscopic machines, capable of performing a huge array of complex functions they’re called cells. Your cells can be programmed, just like any other machine, and scientists at the Lim Lab at UCSF are learning to engineer cells that perform tasks like seeking out and destroying cancers. Visit some members of the lab on our floor and try your hand at reprogramming the immune cells that discriminate between cancer cells and your own. 

Take a Cellfie With Exploratorium Staff 6:30

Get ready for the ultimate close-up and take a photo of yourself with your very own cells. Learn about the tiny building blocks that make up your body by viewing your own cheek cells under a microscope. Then take your own “cell-fie” and double-expose your face with an image of your cells, showing off what you look like at two vastly different magnifications.

Microbial Cellulose Clothing With Okada Design 7:00

Get ready to design the future of biology-based fashion and fabrication: combining visitor silhouettes from the Shadow Box and bacterial cellulose a biomaterial also known as kombucha leather you can create the fashion plates of your dreams. Then get into the means of production: learn about the process of growing kombucha leather and the possibilities for design and biofabrication with microbes.

Foldscopes With Explorables

Make your own portable, durable origami microscope Foldscope kit microscopes provide optical quality similar to conventional research microscopes (magnification of 140X and 2-micron resolution) without the weight or the cost. Explore plankton and other ocean organisms, make some cool drawings from your observations, and take it with you to continue exploring at home.