Today was the last day of the Genetics Afterschool Program, running for the first time this winter. Created by Northeastern undergraduate student Theodora Stanley (Health Science ’22), in partnership with NU Biology professor Jamie Henzy, this six week afterschool program taught students all about genetics, as outlined below.
- Week 1 (2/25): DNA: A Self-Portrait | Presentation
Students extracted DNA from their own saliva and then learned about real laboratory DNA extraction, touching on genetic similarity between organisms, including Covid-19. - Week 2 (3/4): The ACTGs of DNA | Presentation
Students learned about the makeup of DNA (i.e. the nucleobases adenine, cytosine, thymine, and guanine) and did a madlibs/de-coding activity using DNA sequences. - Week 3 (3/11): The Recipe of You | Presentation
Students learned about the sharing of genes from parent to child and about Mendel and Punnett squares. - Week 4 (3/18): From 1 Cell to 3,000,000,000,000 | Presentation
Students learned about cell differentiation and how different cells work together to allow for functioning of our human bodies. - Week 5 (3/25): Virus vs. Cell | Presentation
Students learned about genetics in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic: how does testing work? How do viruses work? How do vaccines protect us? - Week 6 (4/1): Genes in the Lab | Presentation
On the last day, Teddi and Jamie answered any remaining questions students had, took students on a virtual tour through a lab at Northeastern, and showed students some practical and research-based science applications.
