2026 WSSP Summer Institute

The 2026 WSSP Summer Institute (SI) was held at the Waksman Institute, Rutgers University from July 6 to July 17, 2026 for 30 students and 4 teachers.   The goal of the SI is for students and teachers to learn the background and methods on how to conduct a research project in molecular biology and bionformatics.  Students and teachers use this information to lead the research project in a class or club setting at their high schools during the academic year.   Participants learned how to purify DNA from a cDNA plasmid library of the duckweed Landoltia punctata.  They then analyzed the plasmids by PCR, restriction digests and agarose gel electrophoresis.   These DNA clones were sequenced and students performed bioinformatic analyses by searching the scientific databases to determine if their DNA sequences code for proteins and then investigated function of these proteins in the cell.  Students attending the 2026 SI were awarded Susan E. Coletta Teaching Scholarships to support their participation in the program.   Below is a list of the Scholars in the program and the cDNA plasmid clones they isolated, analyzed and published on the NCBI DNA sequence database.  Some of these clones are already posted on the est database and other clones are being processed by NCBI and should be posted shortly.  

Images of WSSP 2026 SI students and teachers working in the lab