Students in Westerville Central High School’s Medical Intervention class recently explored gene therapy as a way to potentially treat genetic disorders. As a part of the unit, students completed a new genome editing lab involving the CRISPR-Cas9 system. CRISPR-Cas9 is a way that scientists can “cut and paste” within the genome, similar to a word processing system. This allows scientists to potentially remove mutations and replace them with the desired DNA sequences.
The unit culminated with students editing the genome of bacteria as part of a multi-day lab. Students worked with E.coli producing an enzyme that allows them to appear blue. Students used the CRISPR- Cas 9 system to cut the gene for the enzyme and insert a “STOP” signal. This resulted in bacteria appearing white instead. Students used additional biotechnology tools (Polymerase Chain Reaction and Gel Electrophoresis) to confirm their results via DNA sequencing.
“Ever since freshman year we have been learning about this (CRISPR) and it’s been the pinnacle of modern medicine,” senior Emily Manton said. “Being able to carry it out on our own, as students not professionals, has been really cool. To have this experience doing what we have been learning about has given us confidence in our future …that we’re capable of handling this.”
AP Biology students at WCHS will also tackle a CRISPR - Cas9 genome editing lab later this month when they complete a similar CRISPR lab focusing on bioinformatics.
For more information about the Health pathways at WCHS, contact Keith Alasti, Diana Arko or Autumn McCormick.