This week, I presented “Real-Life Ethical Issues In Neurology” at Senior Science Society! This is a topic I find incredibly fascinating and was eager to explore further.

This week, the Senior Science Society discussion (Thursday lunchtimes in M15) was on clinically induced seizures. My presentation began with a hypothetical scenario where everyone had to place themselves in the role of the doctor advising a patient. The scenario included a patient with a widespread condition of seizures caused by epilepsy which remains uncured. The doctor is given an opportunity to clinically induce a seizure in the patient, which would provide the information needed to cure this condition and potentially save millions, but it could also be fatal for the patient. Surprisingly, 12 people voted against the controlled seizure, whilst only 6 voted for the seizure. Most of the group believed that there were too many ethical issues in placing the patient in a controlled seizure, knowing that it could cause long-lasting physical and psychological harm. Then, when the scenario changed and the patient was now a close family member (or yourself), the vast majority (16 people) voted against the seizure and only 3 voted for it! Some people argued that it was “worth the risk”, whilst others oppositely argued that they believed their life was too precious, and would not be worth ending for a scientific discovery.

Seizures can either be focal (localised in one part of the brain) or generalised (widespread across the brain) and I explored the many techniques used to clinically induce seizures, which include photosensitivity tests, medication withdrawal (AEDs), sleep deprivation, electrical stimulation or stressors. Something I found interesting was that there are both invasive types of electrical stimulation (cortical stimulation with electrodes) and also non-invasive techniques (transcranial magnetic stimulation with magnets). This is followed by monitoring, data collection and then applications of the induced seizure. And finally, we discussed in further detail the specific ethical issues and considerations, including the Hippocratic Oath followed by doctors specifying that they will do no harm.

Presenting the science behind clinically induced seizures, as well as having group discussion about the ethics, was very fascinating to me. I can’t wait to see what is being discussed next week!!

Deya Dimitrova, Year 12

Last week, BGS Year 12 Senior Society attended King’s College’s annual Daniell Lecture. These are delivered by internationally renowned scientists and cover a topic of current interest or excitement in memory of Professor Daniell. 

First we heard from a PhD student who is exploring cutting edge nano medicine. I was particularly inspired by her masters project focussing on simultaneously diagnosing and treating diseases. We also heard from Professor Rebecca Goss, who was the first female professor of organic Chemistry at St Andrews in Scotland. It was amazing to see such an ambitious and successful woman in that position. She demonstrated to us how we can start building molecules sustainably, exploring areas of chemistry and biology. 

The Senior Science Society is a group of aspiring scientists in Year 12 who all come and meet every week. It is such a great opportunity to collaborate and fully embrace our subject. We took the initiative and booked tickets for this lecture and all attended together. It is so nice to work with like-minded students and I look forward to our meetings every week. 

Last week I had the opportunity to run a debate on the ethics behind stem cell research. I really enjoyed seeing everyone get stuck into the topic and discuss what science looks like outside the theory within our curriculum. I am really looking forward to seeing what else we will do within our society in the future… 

Matilda Jackson, Year 12

The following students took part in the national competition; Cambridge Chemistry Challenge, which really challenged the students. Our students, filled with the highly developed BGS ethos of intellect and courage, worked through unfamiliar content (Year 13 IB spec) as well as unfamiliar contexts.

Dr Numbere-Nmaju
Subject Leader for Chemistry

The Biology in Action trip certainly provided a useful and insightful look into the multitudes of different careers and opportunities within the broad subject of biology.  A small group of us, all higher biology students, attended the trip to Emmanuel Hall in Westminster, along with a few other schools too. The centre looked amazing, with amazing speakers there too. Every lecture was around 45 minutes long, discussing various different uses of biology in everyday life and so many different career paths instead of the presumed doctor, dentist, or veterinarian that always comes to mind to a lot of people, including me, when a career in biology is mentioned. There were six lectures throughout the day, varying from exam tips to research expeditions, virology, and even methods of saving species from extinction, such as the Northern White Rhino, which was certainly unique and interesting. To me, the most interesting lecture was the one on virology, with the speaker sharing her role in science and even sharing her method of discovering a once unknown outbreak of plague around 4000 years ago, which certainly inspired me to perhaps follow a career in that sector of science. Overall, the trip opened my eyes to many unique and exciting opportunities for me in science and widened my knowledge of the subject of biology and the impact it has on our living world.

George Claydon, Year 12

Overall, the trip was a great day out in such a nice venue; it was a pleasure to have the opportunity to be able to listen to such experiences from experts in the field. A variety of compelling lectures were given, one on the awesome experiences in the Amazon Rainforest, major trauma centres around the UK, an emotive talk on the Northern White Rhinos, a talk from Miss Estruch and a talk from a PHD completed doctor on her experiences with researching infectious diseases from-thousand year old human remains. Constantly engaging talks allowed all the students to be attentive all of the time. The day was all in all very eye-opening and definitely pushed me more towards Biology as a whole.

Shishir Gautum, Year 12

Chemistry in Action

On the 29th February, myself and a group of higher chemistry students went to the Chemistry in Action lecture at the Emmanuel Centre in London. In this lecture we gained an insight into multiple fields of chemistry that we could go into in the future and their current ideas and innovations in solving problems with society, the environment and industry.

We learnt about the current progress in making batteries more sustainable by finding more environmentally friendly alternatives for their components while also trying to increase their effectiveness in supplying and storing energy.

In nuclear chemistry we were informed about the ways that nuclear waste can be recycled in order to decrease the amount of high level nuclear waste. Some fission products can be used in medicine to target metastatic cancer cells and in space exploration in the form of nuclear batteries. They debunked misconceptions and explained in detail how nuclear waste is disposed of and how rigorous safety regulations are, which definitely helped ease a lot of our fears about the disposal of nuclear waste affecting the environment.

Then there was a panel of Chemistry graduates who gave their experiences in university and career decisions. We could go into chemical engineering, with study years abroad, and write a PhD on a cell's chemical signals or work in industry in analytical chemistry and do an iterated Masters, or even do an apprenticeship and specialise in crystallisation of medicine. What connected all of their experiences together was a love and curiosity for chemistry.

Since important tests are coming soon, a professional chemistry marker explained and clarified the questions on the papers and helped us avoid common errors in regard to the command terms in the question. As usual, always read the question.

An “Accidental” Material Chemist explained how she became passionate about material chemistry through opportunities offered by university and international competitions, pushing science to its limits. She also wrote a PhD on creating a type of composite pellet that would be viable as a sustainable container of hydrogen to power cars, which involved lots of hands-on practical work and exploring different ratios of material to see new properties.

Finally, we learnt about the ways that synthetic chemistry can help diseases like snake bites in the tropics (a commonly disregarded illness). Current treatments include antivenoms which rely on knowing the species of snake for a specific medicine or having to deal with multiple horrible side effects from receiving many different antivenoms. Antivenoms are also really expensive, hard to synthesise and hard to transport due to their temperature requirements, so chemists have been trying to synthesise glycopolymers in order to replicate the properties of antivenoms in order to diagnose and treat snake bites while also increasing accessibility of healthcare to all people.

This was a fantastic learning experience which broadened our horizons with what we can do with the field of chemistry in the future.       

Adrianne Yu-Mason, Year 12

This was a fantastic introduction to British Science Week which commences on Friday 8th March, so please look out for more STEM events organised by the Science Department.

Mrs Moore, Head of Science