A Three-Act Module for Teaching Genetic Techniques to High School Students

The Molecular Biology Initiative (MBI) is a federally funded program to expose high school students to more biology, generate an interest in science, and to develop higher level thinking in them. Genomics is the study of the entirety of the DNA in an organism. Since the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003, genomics information has become both more accessible and valuable for research in many fields, such as agriculture, ecology, and pathology. This is a three day sequence of hands-on activities to teach high school students the basic techniques used in genomics. The students extract DNA from living tissue using common household products. Students then use their familiarity with these products to understand the steps of the DNA extraction. The use of restriction enzymes to cut DNA is discussed and demonstrated by running agarose gel electrophoresis, a very common technique in biology. The class performs a simulation of polymerase chain reactions (PCR), one of the foundational techniques of genetic analysis. There is then discussion of its use in DNA sequencing, fingerprinting, and diagnosis for genetic diseases or predispositions towards disease. The series ends with learning about the next-generation DNA sequencing technique pyrosequencing by encouraging students to think about the the structure of DNA and the process of PCR. This three act series thus teaches students to relate the structure of DNA and cells with the basic techniques used in studying DNA