About

The LLNL Biotechnology Summer Experience is a two-week program that engages high school students in an authentic research project in molecular biology and bioinformatics. It focuses on the isolation, characterization, and DNA sequence analyses of genes from the duckweed species, Landoltia punctata. Duckweed is a fresh-water aquatic plant that is of interest to the scientific community.

High school students are expected to work to isolate and purify plasmid DNA and perform PCR (polymerase chain reactions), restriction digests, and gel electrophoresis. Students analyze gene sequences with the same bioinformatic tools used by scientists worldwide. Students' DNA sequences are submitted for publication in the international DNA repository, Genbank, with each published sequence acknowledging the student by name.