It is a class that combines biology and technology giving students the tools to change the world for the better and improve people’s lives.
On this episode of the Supercast, join us as we take our own microscopic look into the Bio Tech program inside JATC North. It is a program where young student scientists study things like genetics, DNA isolation, protein methodologies, and much more. Some students are even engaged in finding cures for life-threatening illnesses like cancer.
Audio Transcription
[MUSIC]Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It is a class that combines biology and technology, giving students the tools to change the world for the better and improve people's lives.
On this episode of the Supercast, join us as we take our own microscopic look into the biotech program inside JATC North. It is a program where young student scientists study things like genetics, DNA isolation, protein methodologies, and much more. Some students are even engaged in finding cures for life-threatening illnesses like cancer.
[MUSIC]We're here at JATC North to learn more about the biotechnology class. And here to talk with us about it is the teacher, Dr. Carlson. Thank you very much for talking with us.
Dr. Carlson:
It's my pleasure. I really love to talk about this.
Anthony Godfrey:
I'm most focused on your role as a teacher, but you have a storied resume leading up to your time here at JATC North. So tell us about your background.
Dr. Carlson:
I would love to. I first started in a lab years ago in a human genetics lab, and we were some of the first individuals to develop markers that were placed on chromosome maps. From there-
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.
Dr. Carlson:
-From there I participated in a group that cloned a gene that causes 1% of colon cancer. It's a hereditary form of the gene. It's called adenomatous polyposis coli, APC. And because of that work, if families have that mutation, they can be better screened so that their risk of cancer goes down.
Anthony Godfrey:
And you said it's APC?
Dr. Carlson:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
I believe I know a family that has that gene because in their family, they get tested in their 20s.
Dr. Carlson:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Even as a teen, they get tested early on because of that gene that's been identified.
Dr. Carlson:
Absolutely, yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
So before we talk about more of your resume, you right from the start saw the positive impact this has on humanity all over the world.
Dr. Carlson:
Absolutely. I was always interested in cancer biology. I got my PhD in cancer biology and felt like I was able to contribute to that field. I'm very proud of that contribution. Later on, I decided that I wanted to share my research background with students and try to encourage young women to pursue careers in science. And so that's really why I'm here now.
Anthony Godfrey:
And you worked at the Huntsman Cancer Center as well?
Anthony Godfrey:
I got my PhD at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
And after getting your PhD, how long have you been here?
Dr. Carlson:
This is my 10th year teaching biotechnology.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wonderful.
Dr. Carlson:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
And have some of your students gone on to pursue this as a career?
Dr. Carlson:
They have. I've had some students go on to obtain graduate studies in biochemistry, or chemistry rather. I've had others that have gone into biomedical engineering.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.
Dr. Carlson:
So they've graduated in biomedical engineering. I've had others go on into the medical laboratory sciences. And I have another couple of students who are pursuing graduate studies in, one is I believe medicinal chemistry, and another is in molecular biology.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow.
Dr. Carlson:
So I'm really proud that there are those former students who have decided to pursue that path.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's a big deal, and it's a big lasting impact. It must be very rewarding to hear that students have pursued this line of study and as a result are making a huge impact in the world.
Dr. Carlson:
Definitely.
Anthony Godfrey:
What are some of the things you cover that might surprise students?
Dr. Carlson:
We do, I have students bring in a food that we test to see if it's genetically modified.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, wow.
Dr. Carlson:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
So what are some of the– are corn dogs genetically modified? Because I eat a lot of corn dogs.
Dr. Carlson:
It might be. We'd have to test.
Anthony Godfrey:
We'd have to test.
Dr. Carlson:
I can’t say for sure.
Anthony Godfrey:
All right. They probably don't. They probably just give up and say, look, it's a corn dog. We're not going to worry about it. What are some of the foods that we know are genetically modified?
Dr. Carlson:
A lot of your corn-based products are genetically modified soy. One thing students learn about is the successful genetic engineering of the papaya. You can clone a gene from the ring spot virus into a papaya and it protects it from a disease that kind of ravages the crop. And so that's been done in Hawaii.
Anthony Godfrey:
So it sounds like a genetically modified food would be something to avoid, but actually, it makes it possible to produce the food more safely and more consistently.
Dr. Carlson
Yes. So this class isn't about telling students what they should think about genetically modified foods.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.
Dr. Carlson:
It's about informing them of the pros and cons and letting them choose for themselves.
Anthony Godfrey:
What percentage of the time in class is spent hands-on in the lab?
Dr. Carlson:
Well, it varies. If it's a very theoretical unit, we spend a little more time in the classroom than we would in the lab. But our fourth quarter, we have an independent project where students do their own experimentation. They think of a topic that's interesting to them. They devise their own experiments. They carry them out.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.
Dr. Carlson:
They create a scientific poster and then they bring that poster to what we call a poster symposium. We bring in judges from industry or academic labs to judge and then they compete for hopefully scholarships and prizes.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. Well, let's take a look around the lab and see what you've got here. Show me some of the great contraptions and gadgets you have. Okay, let's start here. No food in microwave. [LAUGH] Tell me what this microwave is used for besides frozen corn dogs since it's not used for that.
Dr. Carlson:
No, no food in there. So students, when they have their microbiology lab, we have to prepare auger plates and we autoclave it because it's a media.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.
Dr. Carlson:
We also make gels so that we can allow for DNA to separate by size in a gel. It's a lot like Jello. We put it in a mold and then we have little places we can put a sample. And then we apply electricity to it. And so in that way, we can run out DNA. We can separate it by size.
Anthony Godfrey:
You put DNA in a gel, add electricity, and separate it out?
Dr. Carlson:
Yeah, yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
That sounds pretty awesome.
Dr. Carlson:
We use that machine over there that has the camera.
Anthony Godfrey:
All right, let's go walk over there.
Dr. Carlson:
Okay.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, I see.
Dr. Carlson:
And then we always add a chemical to the DNA that makes it fluoresce so we can take pictures. So these are all DNA bands.
Anthony Godfrey:
DNA bands, yeah. How about that?
Dr. Carlson:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's exactly how you imagine it. That's incredible.
Dr. Carlson:
Yeah, so it's a lot of fun for students.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, yeah, I'll bet.
Dr. Carlson:
Yeah, so they also do their own 23andMe. So for instance, we try to determine what kind of bitter taste receptor gene they have. So they isolate their own cheek cell DNA. We amplify it with a technique called PCR and then we have them run out the gel so that they can determine whether they have two copies of a bitter taste receptor gene or one copy or they're not a taster.
Anthony Godfrey:
And what does the bitter taste receptor gene say about a person?
Dr. Carlson:
Only that they might have a tendency, if they have a bitter taste gene, they might not like broccoli and they might not like other foods that have sort of a bitterness to them.
Anthony Godfrey:
So they don't like broccoli. It sounds like it's a pretty universal gene then.
Dr. Carlson:
I like broccoli.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, you like broccoli.
Dr. Carlson:
And I'm a taster, but there might be certain foods that they just shy away from because of that.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay. So that's a particular component of DNA, a particular gene?
Dr. Carlson:
Yes, it is. And it involves taste perception.
Anthony Godfrey:
So that's a particular gene.
Dr. Carlson:
Yeah, so we learn about that. We also look for a deletion in students' DNA that might protect them from a certain virus and so we look for that. It's a 32-base pair deletion. So we learn about the history and then students usually get excited about whether or not they have that.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. So it really is a 23andMe project that you do yourself.
Dr. Carlson:
It is, it really is.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. Okay, talk about seeing the world in a different way.
Dr. Carlson:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thank you for providing such a unique, and engaging, and important experience for students here.
Dr. Carlson:
Yeah, you're welcome. It's my pleasure. It's something I'm very passionate about. And again, I just hope I can recruit more students to really appreciate the great resource that's here.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah, it's a fantastic opportunity. Thanks very much for taking the time with us.
Dr. Carlson:
My pleasure. Thank you.
Anthony Godfrey:
Stay with us. When we come back biotech students talk about their poster projects and competition, a complex competition judged by industry professionals.
Break:
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Anthony Godfrey:
We’re now in the atrium of JATC North for the poster symposium. Tell us about this event and what we're about to see.
Dr. Carlson:
This is an annual event. It's our 16th year doing this. It's an opportunity for students their last quarter of their high school experience to pick an independent project, experiment in an area of their choosing and then they represent the results of their experiments in a scientific poster. We bring in judges from industry and academic labs to come and judge them and then we are able to offer small amounts of scholarship and prizes to the top six placers.
Anthony Godfrey:
Outstanding.
Dr. Carlson:
As well as a student's choice award.
Anthony Godfrey:
That's great.
Dr. Carlson:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
A student's choice award.
Dr. Carlson:
Yes, that too.
Anthony Godfrey:
Nice, that's awesome.
Dr. Carlson:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
So how many classes are represented here?
Dr. Carlson:
My two classes, I teach both biotechnology and medical forensics. So it's students in both of those classes that are participating.
Anthony Godfrey:
Fantastic, and who are some of the industry partners that end up coming to judge?
Dr. Carlson:
Nelson Labs has been a huge supporter of us. We also have some individuals from the University of Utah Labs. Some of my former students are here, which always makes me so proud that they stayed in the field and progressed. And so we couldn't do it without them, and we also have two teachers from Itineris to help us out.
Anthony Godfrey:
Really? Wonderful.
Dr. Carlson:
Yeah.
Anthony Godfrey:
Let's walk around and see some of the posters and talk with some students. Hi, Zach, tell me about your poster.
Zach:
Basically, it's the functional properties behind my project was to essentially capture some microplastics so that it'll be much more easy for bacteria to –bacteria that eat plastic– to basically eat it since it's basically caught in the mesh.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah.
Zach:
And using that process to essentially expedite the process of, the eating process.
Anthony Godfrey:
So, is this the long-term solution to microplastics in your opinion?
Zach:
I would say that it is one part, but not the only part.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay.
Zach:
I think biodegradables is the most effective way to do it. But this is definitely one step forward.
Anthony Godfrey:
Even for bacteria, it seems pretty sad to live on a diet of microplastics.
Zach:
Well, not if their food is microplastics. I mean, it's just-
Anthony Godfrey:
Fair enough. It's all a matter of perspective.
Zach:
Yes. Their perspective is if it's plastic, I can break it down into a lot of energy. Since the long chains of plastic itself are just bunches of energy chopped up into little portions for the bacteria to essentially eat, grow, and produce off of.
Zach:
I love that you can describe it in a way that makes plastic actually sound appetizing. Like, hey, I can do a lot by eating microplastics.
Zach:
I mean, it's, it's all just a matter of taking big chains and transferring them to small chains and energy.
Anthony Godfrey:
It's such a pleasure meeting you.
Zach:
Thanks for having me.
Anthony Godfrey:
We have a lot of great things ahead of you. This is, this is great work.
Zach:
Thank you.
Anthony Godfrey:
Hi, Maddie. How are you?
Maddie:
I'm great. How are you?
Anthony Godfrey:
Good. Can you talk to me about your poster? It looks great.
Maddie:
Yes, thank you. So my poster was about humectants and moisturizers and how well they're able to retain waters in different gels. So basically, a humectant is an ingredient in most moisturizers that binds the water to the skin, which is really important since skin doesn't really absorb much. So you want to keep water on the skin for as long as possible to avoid, you know, getting dry skin or getting dehydrated skin.
So what I did is I created four identical moisturizer recipes just changing out the humectant each time. So I tested honey, hyaluronic acid, which occurs naturally in our bodies. I tested propylene glycol, which is the only synthetic humectant. And I tested glycerin, which also occurs naturally. I tested these on two different types of gels, an agarose gel and a Ly agar gel, which are basically gels that have a lot of water content in it, which is perfect because they'll generally dry out when left for a while.
So I tested the same amount on each gel. So for the agarose gel, I tested it for 72 hours and these were the results after. So the glycerin absorbed into the gel, like basically all the way. The propylene glycol and the hyaluronic acid absorbed in the gel, but they still had a little bit of product left. And the honey absorbed, but it left kind of a lot of liquid on the top. It had ended up leaking out.
Anthony Godfrey:
So that would not work.
Maddie:
Yes, basically. And then for the agar gel, due to time restraints, I was only able to test it for 24 hours, but I was still able to get some really good results. So the honey halfway absorbed in the propylene glycol and the hyaluronic acid didn't start absorbing at all. And then the glycerin began the absorption process. I wanted to test it with a moisture meter to quantify the data and how well it was able to retain the water. but the moisture meter I had was faulty. I put it in pure water and it said it was dry. So I couldn't trust those results.
But just based on the moisturizers alone, I was still able to come to a good conclusion on which would be the most efficient. So you would think that the honey or the glycerin would be the best because it absorbed in. But when products claim that they're fast-absorbing, it basically just means it goes on your skin and then it immediately begins evaporating. So nothing's really going into your skin. It's just being absorbed into the air.
Anthony Godfrey:
So they make something bad sound good.
Maddie:
Exactly. Exactly. And so the best ones would end up being the hyaluronic acid and the propylene glycol because they were the thickest and they absorbed the least amount in the gels within the 72 hour time period and the 24 hour time period. Because you want the moisturizer to be able to sit on your face for a longer amount of time to keep that water on your skin for a longer amount of time.
Anthony Godfrey:
So you don't want the moisturizer going anywhere. You want it to stick around.
Maddie:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey: Hold that water there up against the skin. So based on all of this, are you looking at products in the store differently and saying, “OK, this one is claiming something that it's not really going to accomplish.”
Maddie:
Yes. There's a lot of false marketing, especially in cosmetics. So you really want to be wary of what you're buying, especially if you know the ingredients so you can see what would be good for your skin and what wouldn't.
Anthony Godfrey:
You look at your poster, it says, ‘I would like to acknowledge Mrs. Carlson.’ Tell me about being in Mrs. Carlson's class. What's that like?
Maddie:
So I'm in the biotechnology program. I originally joined it for the forensics because that was something I thought I was interested in. But Miss Carlson, she's such an amazing teacher. And she really cares about what she teaches. She is so smart. I came into this program thinking I was going to do forensics and then I ended up really loving the biotechnology aspect of it and just being in science. And she's so encouraging. She was so present in this process. And she was so helpful in all of this so I really appreciate her.
Anthony Godfrey:
She's tremendous. And you're brilliant. You've done a great job here.
Maddie:
Thank you so much.
Anthony Godfrey:
Thank you. So Kiana, tell me about your project here. Tell me about the poster.
Kiana:
So my project is about increasing cold tolerance in yeast using a gene called MYB108. It is a cold tolerance gene.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me about why cold tolerance in yeast would be something that you would want to study.
Kiana:
It can be useful for lots of different things. One of the reasons is because breweries around the world, they have to keep their breweries at certain temperatures to keep the yeast content and happy so it can keep growing and reproducing. But if we were able to do this, it would save them a lot of money on heating and regulation for these temperatures. And they'd be able to do these things at a lot lower cost.
Anthony Godfrey:
And so how did you go about doing that?
Kiana:
So what we did was we obtained bacteria that had this MYB108 plasmid inside of it and then we extracted that using a plasmid extraction technique. We also got a plasmid for a green fluorescent protein, or GFP, for yeast cells and we also extracted that. We put both of those into a different yeast strain that was a French Cezanne yeast. And we were able to transform that into the yeast. And then we put those yeast in different liquid cultures, at different lowering temperatures 4 degrees, 12 degrees, and 20 degrees Celsius. Then we compared that with the French Cezanne yeast without any plasmids inside of it. And we were able to determine that the yeast with the plasmids inside of it did have more tolerance to the cold and it did grow more than the yeast without any plasmids in it.
Anthony Godfrey:
For those who don't know, describe what a green fluorescent plasmid is.
Kiana:
So a plasmid is a sort of little wall of DNA that you can transform or put into different things like bacteria or yeast. And the bacteria or yeast takes on the gene that's inside of those plasmids.
Anthony Godfrey:
So you're modifying the genes of the yeast actually?
Kiana:
Yes.
Anthony Godfrey:
And by doing that, you can make them more resistant to cold? And why green fluorescent?
Kiana:
We did the green fluorescent protein so that we were able to determine if the yeast actually did take the plasmids easier. Because sometimes yeast doesn't like to take in some of the plasmids and it doesn't want to take the DNA. So we did the green fluorescent proteins in the yeast to see if it did in fact take in the plasmids.
Kiana:
So what made you want to study cold tolerance in yeast? I'm really interested in genetic engineering and being able to manipulate DNA or add or extract genes from things like bacteria, yeast, plants, animals, things like that. And so this is kind of a stepping stone that I use to go into that field.
Anthony Godfrey:
I think this is really impressive and obviously there are a lot of applications. What do you plan to do after high school?
Kiana:
After high school, I plan to go to college at the University of Utah and study biology with an emphasis in genetics and genomics.
Anthony Godfrey:
I'm glad you're doing that. I think you're going to discover some great things. Congratulations.
Kiana:
Thank you.
Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks for joining us on another episode of the Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you will do today. We'll see you out there.