Prokaryotes, Eukaryotes, Oh My!

Saturday, October 4th, 2025

Did you know that billions of your body’s cells die EVERY DAY? And that your body creates billions of new cells each day in replacement? As a result, the human body is fully replaced every TEN YEARS! Join us for this CELL-tastic session and build model cells with clay with CAGIS Graduate and biologist, Pallavi! Simulate unique processes like kleptoplasty, where cells acquire organelles from other cells! No cellular memory (or pre-existing knowledge) required 😉

Time

Ages 7-12: 8 am PT • 9 am MT • 10 am CT • 11 am ET • 12 pm AT
Ages 13-17: 10 am PT • 11 am MT • 12 pm CT • 1 pm ET • 2 pm AT

Materials and Preparation

Modelling Clay (at least four colours)
Something to create your model on, i.e. paper, tin foil, parchment paper.

Meet the Expert

Dr. Pallavi Pilaka

Dr. Pallavi is a molecular biologist. She studies how the genetic instructions in our DNA are translated into proteins! During her PhD, Dr. Pallavi explored how a single gene can produce different proteins in various tissues (neurons, muscles, and intestinal cells). Now, as a scientist at SickKids Hospital, she studies messenger RNA (mRNA), the molecules that carry genetic blueprints from DNA to the cell’s protein-making machinery. Her goal is to engineer these messengers to develop new therapeutic strategies.

This programming was developed by Mikaela Moore and Sydney Brooks.