Viapath Genetics team take part in ‘Unique Family Fun Day’
A team of our Genetic Scientists recently took part in a family fun day, where they were able to meet local families affected by rare chromosome disorders.
The event took place on Saturday 6th September at Bletchingley, and is one of a number of regional events held by the charity ‘Unique’.
Unique is an organisation whose purpose is to support families living with rare chromosome disorders and to raise public awareness of these disorders and the hardships faced by the families affected.
Viapath had a stand at the event, complete with scientific posters explaining the diagnostic work carried out in the laboratory, as well as a range of activities to entertain adults and children alike.
The stand attracted a great deal of interest, with children particularly enjoying taking a look at chromosomes down a microscope, trying their hand at identifying chromosomes, extracting DNA from strawberries and making DNA models out of liquorice and Jelly Babies!
The day was a great success and Angela Davies of the Cytogenetics Department, was very pleased that she and her team could be part of it. “We all enjoyed the event and got a lot out of it ourselves as well as being able to answer numerous questions. We in the laboratory don’t very often get an opportunity to meet the individuals and families who are affected by the abnormalities that we detect and report!”
The team also had the opportunity to speak at length to some of the families about their visits to Guy’s Hospital and other genetics clinics, as well as describing their disorders and how their diagnoses had affected them.
Angela went on to say “It really brought home the roller-coaster of emotions these families have to deal with, it truly was an eye-opener and a very awe-inspiring and humbling experience.”
A big thank you and well done to Angela and the rest of the team!
