School's out for summer, and into the lab
Image courtesy of Bang Wong, ӳý Communications
Daniel’s curiosity about science first surfaced several years ago. “In the sixth grade, I took apart our lawn mower and put it back together, trying to figure out how a combustion engine worked.” A natural experimentalist, he then fashioned a potato-launching gun from a propane torch and PVC pipe. Now a senior at Lexington High School, Daniel devoted this summer to a more urgent scientific problem: synthesizing molecules that might one day help fight malaria in developing nations.
Daniel is one of six high school seniors in the Boston area who recently gained hands-on research experience in the ӳý’s lab-based summer internship program. The interns, chosen from over 50 young applicants, spent six weeks working alongside ӳý scientists, conducting research in genome biology, chemical biology, and infectious diseases. The internships are part of the ӳý’s Educational Outreach Program, a new initiative to connect ӳý scientists with high school students and teachers. Supported by a three-year grant from an anonymous donor, the program was launched to the community in January 2007 to foster excitement about biomedical research through class visits to the institute, teacher seminars, and now, a summer student internship.
Summer 2007 high school interns at the ӳý
From left to right: Antonia, Julia, Daniel, Vivek, Ita, and Brian
Photo by Megan Rokop
The program’s efforts have already begun to bear fruit. Ita, a senior at Boston Latin Academy, had visited the ӳý with her advanced biology class before beginning for the summer internship. “I enjoyed when my teacher would perform experiments in class and take us to tour science laboratories.” Ita gravitated toward biology because it seemed more relevant to her own life than other sciences. This summer, she worked with researcher Xiaolan Zhang to analyze how changes in histones — the proteins around which DNA is wrapped — relate to cell differentiation. Not only was Zhang impressed by Ita’s knowledge of biology, but also her skills outside of the lab — she embellishes her own clothing and handcrafts small felt dolls.
To apply for the internship, Ita and the other interns secured nominations from their respective teachers, filled out an online application, and wrote several essays. Megan Rokop, director of the outreach program, said that an interest in science or genomics was not required of prospective interns, but they had to be hardworking, motivated, and curious. The pool of applicants was narrowed down to a select group of students, who were each interviewed by a panel of scientists and asked to read and comment on a news report relating to the field of genomics. “We wanted to make sure the students could interact with scientists and work well with professionals before making our final selections,” she said.
Hailing from a family of doctors, Julia, a senior at Brookline High School, had never thought about working in a lab. But the possibility of witnessing research up close ultimately drew her in. Julia’s mentor, chemical biologist Abigail Bracha, had some initial reservations about having a high school student work with sensitive lab equipment, but those were quickly quelled. “It turned out to be a wonderful experience having Julia in the lab,” said Bracha. “She far exceeded our expectations.” With assistance from Bracha and co-mentor Arvind Ramanathan, Julia investigated how metabolic changes affect the ability of mouse stem cells to mature or differentiate. This line of research may one day help uncover new ways of treating cancer in humans.
During her internship, Julia experienced another facet of scientific research — collaboration. “My mentor presented her work in a seminar, and I got to see the other scientists offering advice. The scientists were all working together and I was surprised to see my mentor being so open to other opinions.” Julia’s fellow interns also learned about the value of collaboration. “The scientists come together for meetings all the time and there isn’t one set group or team in each lab,” said Vivek, a senior at Beaver Country Day School. “If you feel that there’s something cool to discover, you can form teams with people in different fields to accomplish your goal.”
At a personal level, Vivek’s interest in science is fueled by his love of problem solving — so much so that he taught himself several computer languages. With the help of ӳý computational biologist Manuel Garber and chief technologist Mike Zody, he designed a computer program to help locate genetic abnormalities in cancer cells. “This summer, Vivek wrote the largest piece of code he’s ever written,” said Zody. “And it worked, which doesn’t always happen in our field!”
In addition to highlighting the pleasant surprises of research, the summer program instilled in the interns an appreciation of the potential of science. Antonia, a senior at Medford High School, believes that a lot can be learned from the past, but that science may be a better way to influence the future. “Science is so powerful because it gives us the ability to really change things,” she said. A history buff with many interests, including vintage 19th century dance, museum volunteer work, and civil war bayonet drills, Antonia thinks she might just be happier with a career in science than in any other field.
With the help of her summer mentors, Antonia studied how histone proteins are modified, which may affect the way certain genes are switched on. Her knowledge of biology has matured since her arrival at the ӳý, according to Henry Jung, a graduate student in the Chemical Biology Program who co-mentored Antonia with postdoctoral fellow Jianping Cui. “She has a really fresh perspective and she’s very curious,” Jung said. Antonia even found ways to improve one of the lab’s protocols, which was written by a PhD-level scientist. Her ideas were incorporated into the protocol, leaving behind a legacy of her summer-long tenure.
Another lasting effect of the program is a clearer vision of the people who work in laboratories and what a career in science might be like. “Even beyond the lab work,” said program director Rokop, “we wanted to expose the interns to the life of a scientist.” By assisting chemical biologist Derek Martyn in the search for malaria medicines, Daniel, the Lexington senior, was able to observe his mentor’s day-to-day work. “My school and my family really value science, so I already had a pretty good idea of what a scientist is and can be,” he said. “But this program opened my eyes to how I could fit into that world.”
Through designing and conducting experiments and analyzing data, the interns began to realize the potential impact of biomedical research on human health. Brian spent the summer working with researchers Olivia McPherson and Angela Koehler to identify molecules that might inhibit HIV infection. Not wanting to spend the summer working in his local shopping mall, the Medford High School senior said that he made the right choice by participating in the internship. “My experience here was different every single day,” he said. “Olivia taught me to rely on myself. If I asked her a question, she would ask me what I thought instead of just giving me the answer.” Before the internship, Brian was planning to become a fashion designer. “After this program, I see that I’d much rather have 10,000 people benefit from a drug that I helped discover, than have 10,000 people wear clothing that I designed.”
To round out the summer experience, the internship stretched beyond daily laboratory work. The students toured the ӳý’s genome sequencing center, attended the Midsummer Nights’ Science lecture series, and discussed recent ӳý research with Rokop and high school teacher Julie Boehm to explore areas of biomedical research outside of their respective labs. After six weeks of intense work, the interns presented their research findings in a poster session for the ӳý community, followed by a dinner for mentors, students, and families. At a luncheon honoring outreach program volunteers the next day, the mentors accepted customized gifts of appreciation from the interns. Vivek explained the significance of his gift in relation to his summer project — working with his mentors to uncover a genetic region that had been translocated, or traded between chromosomes. “We didn’t find it, so I made my own translocations,” he said, presenting his mentors with colorful, striped gummy worms that resembled traded genes.
Members of the ӳý community attended the interns' poster session
Photo by Kate MacSwain
The ӳý’s hands-on approach to science education will continue this fall, when the outreach program gears up for more class visits and educational seminars for local teachers. With help from program coordinator Kate MacSwain and high school teacher Allison Martino, Rokop will also initiate a new fall program for high school students centered around a semester-long research project. Selected students will spend two Saturdays a month at the ӳý, isolating and identifying microbes from their environment. The project will get a genomics spin when the interns categorize the microbes by their DNA sequences to discern the evolutionary relationships between the isolated organisms. Rokop believes that in addition to giving students an invaluable glimpse of the researchers’ lives, the outreach program brings additional vitality to the ӳý. “Young adults of this age are not common in the world of research, so it’s helpful to bring the freshness of youth in,” she said. “This program just infuses the building with life.”
