The SBIMB and Wits Human Genetics Community Outreach Program (SCOP) is a project developed and run by Wits students. Our students are from two institutes the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience (SBIMB) and the Wits Division of Human Genetics hosted within the School of Pathology Faculty of Health Sciences.

Part of our work is to visit schools in the area and give presentations about how genetics works how we study it how it can be used to treat disease identify individuals and develop precision medicine.

Our app is designed as a library containing simple explanations of genetic concepts. It is meant to serve as a beginners guide to the science which provides more information for the students who see our presentations and for any interested person who would like to know more about genetics in general.

The app is divided into three sections: Basics Advanced and Real World Examples. Basics explains the concepts of inheritance (getting DNA from our parents) what cells are and where is DNA within them and how genes work. Advanced provides more information about chromosome structure in humans how differences in genes lead to different features how we can design medicine to fit our genes and a safe experiment to show you how to extract your own DNA at home. Real World Examples highlights major studies forming foundations in the genetics world including exciting African projects to inspire learners by showing that they could do this incredible work too.

The app mainly uses pictures to describe these concepts and the language is simplified so that it can fit a wide variety of age groups. All the pages in the app were designed and written by our SCOP team. The app ends with a brief overview of our respective departments at Wits and we have added in our email address to answer any questions.

If you have any other questions about the content or design of the app please feel free to ask us via our email address: [email protected]