Center for Aquatic Research

By Tanya Cornell-Kestler, staff writer

Participants in the Rochester Area Colleges—Center for Excellence in Math and Science summer institute at Keuka College completed part one of a two-part experiment to isolate DNA in a test tube today (July 29).

And, since the title of the institute is “Using Zebra Mussels for Good, not Evil: Hands-on Experiments and Modeling Activities,” the experiment was performed on zebra mussels.

Michael Keck, chair of the Division of Natural Sciences, Mathematics, and Physical Education and associate professor of chemistry led the lecture and experiment, explaining to the six high school teachers that doing an experiment like this with their students would provide the students with an opportunity to “lay their eyes on a piece of DNA.”

The participants worked in teams of threes to break open their zebra mussels. One team was told to leave the mussel in the shell and place it in the test tube while the other was instructed to remove the “meat” from the shell before placing it in the tube. A lysis buffer was added to the tubes, which were then placed in an incubator where they will remain overnight. Tomorrow, the DNA will be extracted and the teams will discuss the impact of leaving the mussel in a shell versus removing it from the shell.

Taking part in the experiment were James Hahn (Penfield High School), Kyla Lester (Corning West High School), Barbara Densmore (Wilson Magnet High School Commencement Academy), Kerry Mette (Geneva High School), Maureen Jarvis (Skaneateles High School), and Maureen Russell (Naples Jr.-Sr. High School).

Photos of the Summer Institute activities at Keuka College are available here.