Corey Staggs
Glencliff High School
AP & Honors Biology Teacher

August 3, 2004

    This summer I worked for Dr. Todd Giorgio. Dr Giorgio is involved in several different aspects of BioEngineering. While in the lab we worked with a Quantum Dots. These are nano particles that are currently being used in several different fields of biomedical engineering. One project we worked on is looking at the possibility of placing specific proteins on the dots and then using them to treat various diseases such as cancer. One area of research is looking for ways to use these dots to identify cancers when they are still only a few cells by using specific tags that will bind to the cancers and emit fluorescence while passed through a cell flow cytometer.

 We also worked will a new polymer made by the chemistry department that might be used to coat various medicines someday. This project was still in the early stages of development and we were basically just measuring how long it takes for the polymer to dissolve at various pH levels. They hope to be able to use this polymer to coat quantum dots coated with a specific protein. Then they will inject them into wounds or other maladies and have them administer medicine directly to a problem area over time.

I also worked with DNA by doing some transformation experiments. These were labs that were using the PGlo gene and inserting it into an E.coli bacteria. It was a great lab for transformation as the bacteria that received the gene were fluorescent when viewed under a UV light. I was able to use the labs centrifuges, autoclave, incubator, and gel electrophoresis equipment. It was definitely nice to be able to use some real scientific equipment and work in a real lab.

Some of the experiments I worked on are obviously not practical to use in a high school setting. Few of us have cell flow cytometers ( cost about $250,000). I also don't really have a ready supply of quantum dots either. I am going to take the experiments I did with transforming E.coli and use it as part of my grand challenge to teach DNA and RNA to my students. In my challenge I am going to introduce the concept of adding a gene to an animal that gives it new properties. We will start off by going over the basic structure and function of DNA. Then we move into how DNA is made and processed in the cell. After we learn the basics of DNA we delve into how you can change an organisms DNA by cutting it and inserting a new piece of DNA. The students should learn all about transcription, translation, and transformation. I think this mosaic will spark their interest and make learning about DNA a fun challenge.