During my junior and senior years of high school, I was fortunate enough to be apart of a lab-based biotechnology course. Being in this class meant two year of working with my classmates to develop lab procedures, run those labs and write lab reports to discuss the results of the experiment and the different ideas involved in the lab. Another aspect of this class was getting to develop and work on a capstone project our senior year. It was an extensive project that took most of the school year to work on and complete. It involved determining an idea and hypothesis, doing background research, designing a procedure, running the experiment, writing a paper and presenting our findings and results at a capstone competition. Being able to do this project was the reason I decided to apply to the biotechnology program as a sophomore. I had always wanted to be able to research and experiment with an original idea and see what I could learn from the experience.

I worked with a friend in the class and together we looked into horizontal gene transfer of photosynthetic genes between Synechocystis nigrescens (a species of freshwater algae) and Caenorhabditis elegans (a species of nematode). We were inspired by reading a paper about a species of photosynthetic sea slugs to make our project about the potential of other photosynthetic eukaryotes. The purpose of our capstone was to see if photosynthesis was possible in other eukaryotic species. For our experiment, we fed C. elegans with S. nigrescens over the course of a few days. We then put the nematodes through a starvation process to allow any photosynthetic genes to be expressed (which would become a food source for the nematodes). After this was over, both qualitative and quantitative data was taken to determine whether or not horizontal gene transfer of photosynthetic genes had taken place or not. In conclusion, we could not determine whether or not photosynthesis had taken place but we did determine that the C. elegans ate the algae which is not its preferred for source. Because of this, we determined that it was possible for horizontal gene transfer to occur but that further work would have to be done to know for sure.

After completing our project, we presented it at a biotechnology capstone competition for high school students. In the photo below, myself and my partner Megan are standing in front of our poster board that we presented to the judges and to other students and teachers at the competition. Our project earned second place in our category. I felt so proud of Megan and myself when we placed in our category. I was happy knowing that all of our hard work and all of the hours that we put into the project were being recognized.

Being apart of my school’s biotechnology program was the most rewarding experience of high school for me. I learned so many different skills that I have been able to apply not only to other science classes but to everyday life.  The two years of in lab experience also left me familiar and skilled in a variety of lab techniques which I know that I will be able to use going forward. Presenting my capstone forced me to learn how to talk about science in a way that any one could understand. I had to learn how to teach someone about the project, what it encompassed and what it meant. In the future, I would love to be able to work in research, both here at Ohio State and potentially in my future career. I believe that being apart of this program has prepared me to be successful in the environment of a research lab.