A group of high school students are taking part in the national human genome project with guidance from their biology teacher and a research scientist at the School of Medicine.
Wesley Bonds Jr., associate research scientist in genetics at Yale, and Sister Mary Jane Paolella, a biology teacher at Sacred Heart Academy in Hamden, Connecticut, have taught DNA sequencing to more than 26 students at the all-girls high school. The students are learning techniques that are usually done by graduate students in genetics.
"The young women in Sister Paolella's class are getting a unique, hands-on introduction to modern molecular biology," says Bonds. "DNA sequencing is the perfect way to introduce students to scientific experiments because it is repetitive work and can be easily evaluated. I first taught a small group of students the techniques three years ago and within three weeks, some of them were performing a task called silver sequencing, which involves sequencing and then staining the DNA with a silver ion to make it visible."
Paolella and her students became interested in learning DNA sequencing last March. The biology teacher contacted scientists at the University of Washington in Seattle, who were working on the national project, and they put her in touch with Bonds. Today, as part of the High School Human Genome Project, students in her biotechnology and social values class are working on actual DNA templates from Chromosome 5, which is believed to be the location of the gene that causes deafness.
According to Bonds, the High School Human Genome Project is a perfect miniature of the National Human Genome Project, which is comprised of scientific researchers around the world, working to map all of the 3.2 billion pairs of DNA molecules that comprise the human genome. Genomes encompass the set of 46 human chromosomes that reside in human cellular nuclei and contain genetic information.
"The same sequencing theories and problems in finding a gene are identical to the national project," says Bonds. "The students are doing the same things, but on a smaller scale with less equipment."
Interest in the project has been so strong that these students are going to the private school on evenings and weekends to work on the project and learn new techniques. A DNA sequencing workshop conducted two months ago by Bonds and Paolella drew 24 biology students and teachers from New Haven and Fairfield counties, as well as teachers from New Jersey. Another DNA sequencing workshop is planned for April.
The discovery last month of a deafness gene by University of Washington researchers has inspired the two teachers and the students to continue sequencing other pieces of the human genome. They have already started lining up full-length cDNAs, which are copies of human genes, for the students to sequence. The data will eventually be added to Internet gene databases for access by researchers and the general public.
"Only 5.5 percent of the genome has been sequenced," says Bonds "There are a lot of problems to work on and it is possible that a discovery might come from a high school student."
Paolella says her students are very enthusiastic about the project and feel like they are making a real contribution to scientific research. "In all my years of teaching, Iíve never seen students so excited about a project," she says. "The girls really feel like theyíre making a difference and they are honored to be working with a Yale geneticist."
Because Bonds believes the High School Human Genome Project provides an opportunity for the average person to understand what the human genome project is, he wants to have students in the program demonstrate DNA sequencing at local shopping malls.
"We hope that the High School Human Genome Project will help students develop a more positive attitude about science and technology," he says. "It will also give them a better understanding of what scientists are doing at the Yale School of Medicine."