The 2024 Waksman Institute Summer Experience (WISE) were two in-person two-week programs (6/20/24-7/3/24 and 7/29/24-8/9/24) that engaged high school students in an authentic research project in molecular biology and bioinformatics. It focused on the isolation, characterization, and DNA sequence analyses of genes from the duckweed Landoltia punctata, and how these compare to those found in other species. Duckweed is a fresh-water aquatic plant that is of interest to the scientific community. A video of an overview of the research project can be found here. High school students who were in the 2024 WISE Program:
- attended seminars conducted by Rutgers faculty.
- worked in a college laboratory with instruction from researchers.
- isolated unique fragments of DNA by conducting laboratory experiments including plasmid DNA purification, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), restriction digests, and gel electrophoresis.
- analyzed gene sequences from these DNA fragments using the same bioinformatic tools used by practicing scientists worldwide.
- submitted their vetted DNA sequence analyses for publication on GenBank, the international repository of DNA sequences, that is maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Education (NCBI).
Each sequence that is published in the GenBank database acknowledged the student by name.
WISE June 2024 (6/20/25-7/3/24): Published Sequences Pictures of Participants
WISE August 2024 (7/29/24-8/9/24): Published Sequences Pictures of Participants
A Virtual Waksman Institute Summer Experience (vWISE) program was held from 8/12/24 to 8/23/24. The virtual program engaged high school students in an authentic research project in molecular biology and bioinformatics and focused on the DNA sequence analyses of genes from the duckweed Landoltia punctata, and how these compare to those found in other species. Duckweed is a fresh-water aquatic plant that is of interest to the scientific community. A video of an overview of the research project can be found here.
A video of the Welcome Zoom Meeting at 9:00 AM on 8/12/24 can be found here. Password: 3UU+7@zO
High school students who were in the 2024 vWISE Program:
- attend online seminars conducted by Rutgers faculty
- analyz gene sequences from these DNA fragments using the same bioinformatic tools used by practicing scientists worldwide.
- submitt their vetted DNA sequence analyses for publication on GenBank, the international repository of DNA sequences, that is maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Education (NCBI).
Each sequence that is published in the GenBank database acknowledged the student by name.
A video of the Program Wrap-Up Zoom Meeting at 7:00 PM on 8/23/23 can be found here. Password:
vWISE August 2023 (8/12/24 to 8/23/24): Published Sequences