Doggie (and RAT!) DNA Day Recap

For those of you who couldn't make it to the DOWN BOY! Pets, Parasites and Petri Dishes event last Sunday, June 21, you missed another wacky and surprise-filled event at the Science Gallery as we turned the Irish Blue Cross van into a movable Science Gallery lab. While we've come to embrace the strange and unexpected, to have the pleasure of a pet rat joining in for the Doggie DNA and Canine Kiss Culture event was a big surprise- even for us! Good thing INFECTIOUS artist and scientist, Maria Phelan, was quick to adapt, managing to get 'Jenny the Rat' to kiss an agar plate for her mercurial work Kiss Culture in Gallery 1. Check out the blog on Muttugly by the owner of another one of our four-legged star participants, to read what they thought of the event. 

TCD researcher, Fernando Narciandi, was also on hand to take Doggie DNA samples through saliva swabs to collect samples to see if a mutation in the canine proteins AMP (antimicrobial peptides) that effects the colour of the dog, also effects its health. A big thanks to Pet Vet Liam Moriarty who has offered to continue the research at Hermitage Vet Clinic and Old Bawn Vet Clinic. Looking forward to getting the results!

Check back in the next couple of weeks for images and video of the event!