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early two dozen freshmen in Southern’s Honors College are joining hundreds of undergraduate students throughout the country this fall in an innovative genomics research program created by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).
Southern was among 12 colleges and universities — and the first in Connecticut – chosen for full membership in the Science Education Alliance, a national network of scientists and educators committed to the improvement of undergraduate science education in the United States. In 2008, the alliance created the National Genomics Research Initiative, a program in which college students participate in cuttingedge research techniques, such as DNA analysis. A dozen colleges and universities are picked each year for full participation in the program. It enables students to engage in scientific discovery, a vital component in sparking scientific curiosity. During the two-semester genomics course, the Southern students will isolate unique bacterial viruses, or phage, and decode their genomes. They will later purify the phage and extract its DNA, which will then be sent to the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico to be sequenced. Students will later receive files about their phage’s DNA sequence and use bioinformatics tools to analyze and annotate the genomes from their phage. “We are thrilled to become part of a national network of science educators who seek to improve student learning and generate excitement about authentic scientific discovery,” says Nick Edgington, associate professor of biology, one of the instructors of the course. Right: southern students are taking part in a national genomics research program.
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