About

The LLNL Biotechnology Summer Experience is a free two-week program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California — one of the most storied federally funded research institutions in the United States — giving high school students direct, hands-on experience in molecular biology and bioinformatics. The 2026 program runs July 13–24, weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and is conducted entirely on the LLNL campus at the Edward Teller Education Center. There is no cost to attend.

The program focuses on a single, coherent research project: the isolation, characterization, and DNA sequence analysis of genes from Landoltia punctata, a freshwater duckweed species of active scientific interest. Students perform the same techniques used by professional researchers — plasmid DNA purification, PCR, restriction digests, and gel electrophoresis — then analyze their gene sequences using professional bioinformatics tools. The culminating step is one of the most tangible research outputs available at the high school level: each student's vetted DNA sequence is submitted for publication in GenBank, the international DNA repository maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, with the student credited by name. Students leave LLNL with a published scientific contribution.

The program is developed in partnership with the Waksman Student Scholars Program at Rutgers University, a nationally recognized molecular biology education initiative. Cohorts are small — approximately 24 students — keeping the experience genuinely intensive. Applicants must have completed Biology and Chemistry (or Integrated Science Series I and II) by the end of the current school year. Due to federal national security facility access requirements under the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA Section 3112), citizens of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea without dual US citizenship or legal permanent residence are not eligible to access LLNL's non-public areas and cannot participate. Students must provide their own transportation and lunch.

For a California student interested in molecular biology or bioinformatics, the combination of national laboratory access, real research methodology, and a named GenBank publication makes this one of the most distinctive free programs in the state.