Unlocking the secrets of Cardiovascular Disease: A DNA code adventure for public engagement and outreach events

Genetics play a key role in cardiovascular disease, but this is often challenging to explain at outreach and/or public engagement events.

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a genetic condition which affects 1 in 250 people, and patients typically have mutations in the genes which play an important role in controlling cholesterol levels in the blood. One of these key genes is low density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR).

In this interactive activity, the public and/or students will become a detective and solve two mystery DNA codes using a standard DNA>amino acid decoder (several are available online to print).

LDLR (1) will translate to 'START-H-E-A-R-T'; this represents the healthy LDLR gene.

LDLR (2) will translate to 'START-H-STOP-A-R-T'; this represents the mutated LDLR gene with an early stop codon. For this patient with FH, the fully functional LDLR protein is not generated and this patient will develop elevated LDL ('bad' cholesterol) levels from an early age.

For outreach or public engagement events, this activity works very well alongside a DNA extraction activity, e.g. extracting DNA from strawberries. The DNA cards can also be laminated and re-used if using wipeable board markers.