CSI at UNBC

Tuesday, December 11, 2007 02:57 AM

High school students from all over School District 57 will be taking on the role of Crime Scene Investigators this week as they get some hands-on experience with the latest genetic research technologies and methods.

UNBC and Genome BC are collaborating on this special program called “Geneskool”.

The program places students in the roles of crime scene investigation to solve a fictional crime. In the process, they will be learning about molecular biology and genomics.

“This won’t be a lecture about genetics. Students will actually be extracting DNA from real samples and learning how to analyze it. It’ll be very different from a regular high school science class,” says Daniel Erasmus, a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology instructor at UNBC. “In the process, they’ll be working on the same campus as UNBC researchers who are working on cancer and the genetic factors behind other diseases such as cystic fibrosis.”

“We have had a terrific response to this program from students and teachers,” says Cathy Anderson of Genome BC. “Last year, a high school teacher told me that four of her students went into genetics as their field of study because of the experience they had during the Geneskool program. All of these students know about genetics because of television shows like CSI but very few of them actually get to experience what it’s all about. That’s the power of Geneskool.”

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