"This is a DNA to protein sequence," said Jaclyn Shaw. "Here what we do is use Purl, which is our coding sequence, and what you do is type in a certain series of DNA. You can make up anything out of the four nitrogenous bases and then it prints out the actual amino acids that would be produced. That's what we've been working on."
Believe it or not, this isn't one of UB's top scientists explaining DNA sequencing alignments. It's 17-year-old Jaclyn Shaw, a senior at Mount Saint Mary Academy in Kenmore. But thanks in part to UB's high school bioinformatics project, Shaw is well on her way to becoming a scientist.
"I'm accepted to Cornell right now. I'm thinking meteorology, that was my initial [choice], but I'm really getting into biology a lot," said Shaw. "So, I'm thinking maybe I'll try to start, at least freshman year, double majoring in both, and then seeing from there what I really what to do. Because I've been thinking a lot about med school, or maybe genetics."
Shaw says UB's high school program definitely turned her onto the many science careers that are available -- including bioinformatics. The all girl, Mount Saint Mary Academy, along with Orchard Park and City Honors High Schools signed on for the intensive after-school program. UB Associate Dean Bruce Pitman co-directs the project. He says sparking interest early is crucial for building a strong bioscience economy for the region.
"The single most important factor for the long term viability of that economy is a highly trained, highly skilled workforce," said Pitman. "What we're trying to do here is to open the pipeline up a little bit, excite some of our talented young people, to see that science is a viable field -- to give them some training, to give them a taste of what this field is all about -- have them realize that science could be an exciting career and that there are opportunities for them here in Western New York."
Pitman says it's an exciting new paradigm. But, because it's so new, Pitman says the first challenge was answering the question, "what is Bioinformatics."
"There aren't materials out available for high school students," said Pitman. "I used to get phone calls from students, from parents, from school officials, 'we want to do bioinformatics, we want to go into bioinformatics. What is it?' Well, hopefully we're giving some definition to what it is and what's available, and what's possible."
And what is possible? Well, how about unlocking the secrets of life? Bioinformatics is being used to sequence the human genome. To identify abnormal proteins, and diseases, then treat or cure them, with drugs also designed through bioinformatics. It's all based on powerful, supercomputing.
The computers being used can do calculations in just a couple of hours that used to take several years. Four mini-versions of UB's super-computers were placed in each of the three schools for the after school program. And at Mount Saint Mary, computer programming is also offered as a credit course. Principal Dawn Riggie says the program opened up possibilities once rare for young women.
"We've gone from really just working with computers as a tool to where the girls actually take them apart, put them together -- they know every inch of them. They can write in Purl, they can write in HTML, they've learned two or three other languages beyond that. They've actually made those programs," said Riggie. "They have gained a lot. And for some of the girls it's really made a difference in what their career decision is going to be."
This first group of young women to go through the program at Mount Saint Mary say they certainly plan to be among UB's Next Generation of Scientists.
"The computing aspect of bioinformatics is really going to help me in my chosen major. I'd like to be a mechanical engineer and eventually design cars, maybe," said Courtney Kiszewski.
"I've applied to a few schools, Princeton and Columbia are my main schools, and I'm looking at engineering and definitely going into a science field," said Darcy Brown.
"It would be a great field to go into. My dream would be a Nobel laureate. Somewhere down the line, that would be possible in this field," said Shaw.
But these young women may have some competition for those top prizes. UB plans to make the program available for high school students throughout Western New York. The university has applied for a grant from the National Science Foundation that would allow them to expand the program. It would make Western New York one of only a handful of places in the nation to have a Bioinformatics curriculum for high school students.
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