Students' Statements  

We learned about the daily routine in a lab, which may help us when we will choose our professional career. In addition, now we know our compatibility of 5-FU, a vital information in case we might get cancer. In most hospitals this information is currently not given. In our opinion this is not acceptable from an ethical point of view. These tests should be conducted in all hospitals on a routine basis, as 2-3% of all cancer patients die as a result of chemotherapy.

Another positive aspect of the project was that we formed a team together with our teachers. We were equally treated, which was emphasised by Ms. Dr. Bogengruber, when offering to address all of us with an informal „Du“. This also improved our working atmosphere. Most team members said that they would like to repeat a day in a lab in spite of tiring preparations. Some of us can even imagine choosing a professional career in a lab.

The project differed from our regular classes due to the relaxed relation between students and teachers. A highly committed attitude on both sides characterised the entire project.
I would wish our every day classes could be conducted in that way.

In case one of our family members or friends gets a carcinoma we now know that certain tests should be conducted before starting chemotherapy.

The remaining extracted DNA was filled into little plastic tubes and poured into synthetic resign moulds. We were allowed to keep this piece of bijou remembering us of an exciting and informative project day. Some of us made necklaces and carry them around their necks.

I really liked the project! It demonstrated that we hear a lot of wrong or incorrectly worded information about genetic engineering and cancer in the media and that we should not always trust this information.

First we thought the subject would be very theoretical and so to speak “dry” but thanks to Mr. Steiner, who let us share his personal experience in the subject, the lessons turned out to be very interesting and informative. Besides theory, there was still place for having fun, especially when Mr. Steiner told us some anecdotes of his own time as a student.

The patients were very open-minded to our project and we were even allowed to observe a bone marrow biopsy. Our visits to the hospital set us thinking! Many of us could not forget the images of the patients for a long time. We admire the mental strength of the physicians, as dealing with so many hard fates at the same time can not be easy.

We learned a lot during the project and with the information we got we now understand a lot of media reports better and even lost some unjustified fears about cancer and its treatments.

The project was very interesting from a scientific point of view but it also touched us mentally very deeply. We realised how strong patients and their families must be in such extreme situations they have to go through and how difficult it is to deal with cancer.