At the end of July we helped RAIN Incubatorlaunch a week long summer camp that introduced incoming ninth and tenth graders to the world of synthetic biology. The campers were local public school students with little to no experience in science. We designed nine experiments for them to run. The first half of the week was spent running agarose gels, learning how to identify cells under a microscope, extracting their own DNA, and creating art in 96 well plates with Bradford Reagent and BSA. The second half of the week we got into more advanced biology. They ran endpoint PCR and learned how to use agarose gels to analyze their results, then split into groups to grow bacteria cultures. We used the BioBuilder kit, Eau That Smell, based on the 2006 MIT iGEM team’s project. For the purpose of the camp, we created a new protocol that showed the students how adding isoamyl alcohol to their cultures affects the growth. They learned that while adding isoamyl alcohol will make the culture smell like bananas, adding too much will, as one camper put it, “make the bacteria smell like feet”.
The feedback from the campers was incredible. They all took short tests, to assess their understanding of biology, before and after the camp. Scores from the first test, taken at the beginning of the camp, averaged 57.7% with a standard deviation of 22.7%. Scores from the second test, taken at the end of the camp, averaged 93.4% with a standard deviation of 7.3%. This shows that every camper learned the concepts presented throughout the week, regardless of their background knowledge. Many of the students began the week with no interest in science, and very little confidence in their ability. We are so proud to say that every student left the camp feeling excited about science, and feeling like they could have a future in biology.

“While excited to try [the camp], I wasn’t really sure if it was going to be something I’d be interested in. But from the first day I came here the lab work we’ve been doing and the stuff we’ve been working on has been something that sparks that interest for science. The mentors and peers here have been unbelievably nice and helpful and I would recommend this camp to anyone interested in science, biology, or engineering.”
-- Chista Lackey, 15, Lincoln High School

“At first I was a little hesitant and scared coming here because of the title ‘bioengineering.’ I thought no way could I ever do that I don’t even know what a cell membrane is. RAIN proved me wrong. I was able to understand what we were taught.”
-- Alice Wagar, 14, SAMI

“I have learned so much over this week that I had no idea about. I found the lab about PCR screening fascinating. The fact that we can essentially reproduce DNA at mass quantities with just some chemicals and a thermocycler is just so amazing. Normally biologist learn about this in college but the fact that I got this opportunity so early really made me inspired.”
-- Madison Auble, 15, Stadium High School

“Now, a week ago, if you were to ask me the question, ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ I would have panicked and said computer programmer... But I have a question to ask back-- ‘how can I choose when I don’t know what I’m choosing?’ I might say I want to be an astronaut, but do I know what that really entails? So I want to thank everyone that was a part of making this camp possible. Getting to see what bioengineering really is and what it means to be a bioengineer has been an incredibly valuable experience… I hope that this program can continue on in the future so that more students can experience this amazing opportunity.”
--Kendall Dawson, 14, SAMI