in the
Biotechnology
Biotechnology can be translated as
"life technology." It involves manipu-
lating and using living organisms, es-
pecially at the molecularlevel, to ben-
efit society in different ways. DNA
fingerprinting, paternity testing, and
diagnostic tests are some of the most
well-known practical applications of
biotechnology (Kieffer1987).
While biotechnology is increasingly
in the news-given continuing discov-
eries and breakthroughs in the disci-
pline-awareness of the overall signif-
icance of this relatively new branch of
science remains limited. This is espe-
cially true of students taking science
courses at the high school level. In
order to bridge this knowledge gap, a
project was initiated to bring biotech-
nology into the high school student's
scientificimagination.
Generally speaking, there are sev-
eral objectives to be pursued in intro-
ducing biotechnology at the high
school level. A project of this kind
involves an attempt to:
1. Integrate biotechnology into the
senior biology course.
2. Introduce the term "biotechnol-
ogy" and make students aware of
the preliminary principles and
techniques involved in biotech-
nology.
3. Indude some hands-on experi-
ments involving DNA spooling,
DNA electrophoresis and trans-
formationexperiments.
4. Prepare students, in examining
issues and questions of bioethics,
to make sound judgments re-
garding the possible uses and ef-
fects of the innovations.
MaryamAhmedteaches at Centennial
RegionalHighSchool,880 HudsonSt.,
GreenfleldPark.Quebec, Canada J4V
lHl.
178 THEAMERICAN
BIOLOGY
TEACHER,
VOWME58, NO. 3, MARCH196
High School
Classroom
MaryamAhmed
The actualprojectof integratingbio-
technology into a high school biology
curriculum involved a number of
steps. The first requirement was to
purchase appropriate materials. At
CentennialRegionalHigh School, one
of the largest English language sec-
ondary schools in the greaterMontreal
area, we opted for the Advance Place-
ment Biology lab kit designed by Ed-
votek for high school students. A
small group of senior science students
from Centennialtried the experiments
at ChamplainRegionalCollege, nearby
in St. Lambert,underthe supervisionof
the professor at Champlainwho is in
chargeof the BIO-REEP (Biotechnology
ResourceEducationalPartnership)Pro-
gram. Some of our students were then
preparedto implementa projectin bio-
technology to be demonstratedat our
school'sannualsciencefair.As Centen-
nial's Science Fair has been a tremen-
dous success in the past, our students
were ready to face the challenges in-
volved in exploringthis particulararea
of modem science and present their
discoveriesat the exhibition.
The projects were conducted at the
EukaryoticCell Genetics laboratoryat
the Biotechnology Research Institute
(BRI) of Montreal. The students de-
cided to pursue two projects. One
dealt with Polymorphism in the
Lipase Gene. The second concerned
the Genetic Engineering of a Lipase
Gene.
The objective of the first project,
Polymorphism in the Lipase Gene,
was to determine experimentally if
polymorphism existed in the lipase II
gene of the fungus Geotrichumcandi-
dum. Polymorphism is a wonder of
nature that allows variationand gives
each organism its own identity. This
experiment, involving lipase-the en-
zyme that breaks down fats or lip-
ids-is designed to show whether or
not different lipase genes are present
in a variety of Geotrichumcandidum
strains (Bjorkling,Godtfredsen& Kirk
1991). The experimentrelies upon the
use of restrictionenzymes to demon-
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strate DNA sequence variations. The
three restriction enzymes used were
HindI, BamHIand BgllM.
The first part of the procedure re-
quired preparationof enzyme digests
using three strains of the fungus and
the three above mentioned enzymes.
The second part concerned the separa-
tion of cut fragments of DNA using
gel electrophoresis Jones-Held &
Held 1992). DNA, being negatively
charged, would be attracted to the
positive pole. The shorter the frag-
ment of DNA, the faster it would
travel, and vice versa. The gels were
stained using ethidium bromide and
were photographed. Analysis of the
data indicatedthat the same restriction
enzyme digested the DNA of different
strains of fungus at different sites,
indicating that the lipase gene of this
species is polymorphic.
The objective of the second project,
Genetic Engineering of a Lipase
Gene, was to compare the expression
of the wild type lipase gene to that of
mutant genes. Genetic engineering
techniques were applied to the lipase
II gene of Geotrichum candidum.Its syn-
thesis has been achieved in Saccharo-
mycescerevisiae-baker'syeast. An ex-
pression system was developed for the
lipase gene based on baker's yeast
(Samad et al. 1989). A mutant of the
lipase gene was used in which alanine
at position 354 (a location in the active
site) was replaced by glutamic acid.
Two different lipid substrates, tribu-
tyrinand triolein,were used to test the
activity of the lipase and its mutant
form.
The procedureinvolved preparation
of competent cells, transformationand
expression (Singh, Bieker & Dumas
1982). Preparationof competent cells
indudes weakening the yeast and
 the experimentswere an adaptationof
procedures in A Sourcebook of Biotech-
nologyActivities, a guide produced by
the National Association of Biology
Teachers, while the actual protocols
were those published by Edvotek. A
prelabdiscussion was held, emphasiz-
ing the different techniques involved
in handling and measuring micro , A
%
quantitiesand safety precautionsto be
...:...? W j ,
..

.,..~~~~~~~ ~ ~ ~~~
~~~~~~~~~. followed during the exercise. For ef-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
..: 3 .!'

: .;S . ... ... ... ...

fective use of limited equipment, stu-

........... .. .. .,,.!.:
...........
s .......
.. .. .

dents worked in groups of four. All

the experiments were conducted
within a 50-minute period. However
students returned a few hours later to
make the final observations. A postlab
1m "W discussion followed the next day. Stu-
21__ :w[r
....
..S.}"... " _ dents wrote the lab reports based on
the informationprovided in the hand-
outs on the activities.

Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/58/3/178/47559/4450111.pdf by guest on 27 June 2020

The criticalissue of safety was han-
dled by following the guidelines pro-
vided in each protocol. No mutagenic
agents such as ethidium bromidewere
used. Materials exposed to bacteria
Figure 1. BarbaraChin, a grade 10 student working at BRI. were soaked in 10%bleach overnight
and then disposed. Students always
wore goggles and gloves as part of
good laboratoryroutines.
making the membrane more perme- years of age and are in SecondaryIV or This year one of the grade 10 stu-
able to the plasmid. Transformation V. Secondary IV students also take dents did her science fair project on
requires competent host cells: The Physical Science 416/436concurrently. electrophoresis.She studied the effect
lipase gene has to be incorporatedinto Students enrolled in SecondaryV take of temperature,pH and voltage on the
a vector, a type of carrier.Three differ- chemistry and/or physics at the same rate of electrophoresis.She won a gold
ent types of vectors were used: time. The material on biotechnology medal at both the Centennial Annual
1. YPDC219 and uracil was implemented in the year 1993- ScienceFairand at the regionalscience
2. YPDC240 + uracil + lipase 1994 within the two dasses of Biology fair (Figure2).
3. YPDC334 + uracil + mutant. 534. The Advanced PlacementBiology The following are statements stu-
lab kit designed by Edvotek for high dents have made regarding the intro-
Uracil is used as a marker to identify school students was purchased for duction of this topic in the high school
cells that have been transformed. $645 with funding provided by the curriculum:
Yeast cells carryingthe three different South Shore Regional School Board's
vectors were compared. A halo only Educational Development Fund. Im- Biotechnology is an interestingandfasci-
appeared around YPDC 240, indicat- plementation involved ordering the nating topic. It is a subjectrarelybeing
that the mutant lipase gene is reagents, pretesting the experiments, experimentedin other schools, which
ing
incapable of expression and that the and sharing some equipment with the makesCentennial'ssciencecoursesbetter
presence of glutamic acid at position BIO-REEPprogramat ChamplainRe- andaheadin theracewhencompared with
354 in the protein sequence is critical gional College. other schools.
for enzymatic activity. The biotechnology activities were -Sherry Cheung (Sec. IV)
Students enjoyed their stay at BRI, incorporatedin the Biology 534 curric- Thelabson biotechnology wereverychal-
learning the most modern techniques ulum as part of the teaching unit that lenging and enjoyable.It reallygave a
applied in molecular biology (Figure dealt with DNA. The structure of feelingof whatkindof researchis actually
1). They were impressed by the coop- DNA-transcription and translation- beingconductedin the realworldinstead
eration,dedicationand understanding was explained through the use of of referringto outdatedbooks.Incorporat-
shown by the staff working at the models and kits. As a follow-up to the ing biotechnology intothebiologycourseis
Institute. Both projects were selected topic, a group activity on How Genes takinga step in the right direction:to-
by the judges as being among the best Make Proteins (Smith 1990) was con- wardsthefuture.
at Centennial's1993 Science Fair. One ducted. The students were shown the -Yuri Agarwal(Sec.V)
student team won a silver medal, video, Biotechnology-areers for the
while the other was awarded a gold 21st Century,produced by and distrib- I thoroughlyenjoyedthe experimentsbe-
medal and participatedin the regional uted through the National Association causeI find thattheintegration ofa higher
science fair. of Biology Teachers. Three experj- level of technologyinto the high school
Classes on biotechnology were in- ments, DNA Spooling (onion cells), worldof biologyis a practicalwayto learn
troduced as part of Biology 534, the DNA Electrophoresisand Transforma- the basicsof genetics.I had workedwith
current senior biology course at Cen- tion of E. colicells with Plasmid DNA, chemiluminescence-based biosensorbio-
tennial. The students who are enrolled were conducted in the classes with technologyin sciencefairs, but I have
in Biology 534 range from 15 to 17 great success. The protocols used for neverusedbiotechnology with biologyin

179
BIOTECHNOLOGY
 Biotechnology is a field at the cut-
ting edge of recent scientific develop-
ments. Its applications and impact on
society have alreadybeen considerable
and will only increase in the future.
Biotechnology is not yet a part of the
science curriculumin many Canadian
schools and if it is, it is taught in a
fairly superficial way, as just another
chapter in a textbook.
Introducing students to a new and
exciting field of science, this project
provides them with an understanding
~. - of basic principles and techniques as
well as an opportunityto participatein
experimental methodology. At the
same time, it helps raise awareness of
I~~~~ 1 the ethical dilemmas involved in sci-
entific processes in general and bio-
technology in particular.It allows stu-
dents to approach new scientific

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disciplines in a meaningful way. It
goes beyond current methods of
teaching high school science and, in
9~~~~~~~~~~~~~ doing so, the project serves the
broader purpose of generating con-
crete student interest in modem sci-
S.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~U ence and technology.
S l >^6'' -~~~ X .. j....e.
#&
ei.;P
'}iM

Figure 2. Sumitha Krishnamoorthy,a grade 10 student displaying her Science
FairProjecton electrophoresisat Centennial Annual Science Fair (1994).
classes,and this was certainlyan exciting
beginning.
-Niladri Sarkar(Sec. V)
Thematerialswe had at our disposalfor
the labswereexcellent.The micro-pipets
are invaluabledevicesand the samplesof
DNA were ideal in the electrophoresis
experiment.TheBRIshouldbethanked for
their cooperation.The results were also
veryaccurate,butI wonder:is thisdue to
infalliblematerialsand procedures
or our
class'scompetence?
-Atanu Chattopadhyay(Sec. V)
The labs on "DNA Spooling"and "Re-
strictionanalysisof precutlambdaDNA"
were fascinating.I liked how we could
manipulate a few chemicalsand solutions
andendup holdingtheactualblueprintof
lifein frontof oureye. I felt overwhelmed.
-Shaema Imam (Sec. V)
References
Bjorkling, F., Godtfredsen, S.E. &
Kirk,0. (1991).The future impactof
industriallipases. Tibech,9.
Jones-Held, S. & Held, M.E. (1992).
The use of Topoisomerase I as a
teaching tool for understanding cel-
lular DNA structure& activity. The
AmericanBiologyTeacher,54 (6), 368-
370.
Kieffer,G.H. (1987). Biotechnology, ge-
netic engineeringand society (Mono-
graph Series:III) (pp. 5-6). Reston,
VA: National Association of Biology
Teachers.
Samad, M.Y.A., Razak, C.N.A.,
Saleh, A.B., Yunus, W.M.Z.W.,
Ampon, K. & Basri, M. (1989). A
plate assay for primaryscreening of
lipase activity. Journalof Microbiolog-
icalMethods,9, 51-55.
Singh, H., Bieker, J.J. & Dumas, L.B.
(1982). Genetic transformation of
Saccharomyces cerevisiaewith single-
stranded circular DNA vectors.
Gene,20, 441-449.
Smith, D. (1990). How genes make
proteins. In A.M. Rasmussen &
R.H.A. Matheson (Eds.), A source-
bookof biotechnology activities(pp. 25-
31). Reston, VA: National Associa-
tion of Biology Teachers.

180 THEAMERICAN
BIOLOGY
TEACHER,
VOLUME
58, NO. 3, MARCH196