In our Upper School Biological Design Class with Science Teacher Paul Zahller, students are testing out gene editing. If you stepped into class last week, you would have seen students changing a single gene in a bacterium that controls the bacterium’s ability to move sodium in and out of the cell. « Because we edited its DNA, » shared Jack Bay ’20, « it was able to survive in an environment with levels of sodium which would normally be uninhabitable for that species of bacteria. »
This is the second time that MICDS students are performing gene editing in class. « It is very advanced biological technology for high school students, » stated Mr. Zahller.
« I think it’s great that we’re the first high school to do gene editing anywhere, » Bay exclaimed, « and I think it’s really cool that we’re getting hands-on with such a revolutionary technology. The idea that we’re able to alter every aspect of any living organism is pretty crazy, and we’re doing it in our class. »
