Risks on the road to scientific creativity

Science Article

In temporary home on fourth-floor of the Thomas Building, BioLab immerses teen-age 'lab rats' in real world of research

Jeanne Chowning examines the worm C. elegans under the microscope as Barbara Schulz, BioLab executive director, looks on. Photo by Michelle Hruby

It looks like a typical biology research lab, with unopened boxes of Petri plates stacked high, colorful tubes and pipettes littering the benches, and PCR machines whirring as they cycle through rounds of DNA synthesis.

The staff, though, is anything but typical.

Young researchers, age 10 to 18, hold lab meetings to hammer out experimental design, devote hours each day to labor over experiments and publish the results of their novel research in academic journals.

That's the vision for BioLab, a student research laboratory temporarily housed at the Hutch. Its creators designed it as a haven for young people to contribute to the revolution in biology in much the same way young people spawned the computer industry in the 1970s.

"We wanted a place where kids who are 'lab rats' - the kind who show up early to science class and stay after school to try new experiments - could feel at home and could thrive," says Barbara Schulz, BioLab's executive director and former biology teacher at the Lakeside School.

Empowering mission

BioLab's mission is to create an environment that empowers kids to develop an entrepreneurial spirit by letting their creativity thrive.

"Kids don't know what isn't possible. They don't know what you are or aren't supposed to do. So they are willing to take all kinds of risks," Schulz says.

Those risks may be just what lead to breakthrough discoveries that hadn't been thought possible.

Schulz, who with Dr. Nancy Hutchison co-founded the Hutch's Science Education Partnership, knows first-hand of the myriad students in the Puget Sound area who crave an opportunity to delve into the excitement of independent laboratory research.

"A lot of the need for this program was generated by SEP and programs like it," Schulz says. "So many teachers in the area can now get their kids excited about biotechnology, but there are almost no opportunities for kids to get into a research lab without having connections."

BioLab is the brainchild of a local couple who believes that bringing together bright, creative kids interested in science sets the stage for limitless possibilities - including creating technical solutions that can help solve important social problems.

But allowing kids to tinker in a research lab poses challenges not faced by kids tinkering with computer parts.

Supervision a must

Lab safety and adult supervision are a must for students working with chemicals and sensitive equipment, and BioLab participants will work with a superb group of teachers and postdoctoral fellows who will guide, but not direct, the students.

Dr. Katie Mickey, a former graduate student in the Priess lab and BioLab's first postdoc, says that although kids will work with adults to learn the basics, the idea is for students' creativity to spark their own research ideas.

Mickey will work with students who want to study behavioral genetics of the soil roundworm, C. elegans. Other students will choose from three other areas.

Jeanne Chowning, former biotechnology teacher and active SEP participant, will lead a project on yeast genetics, Jon Baker, former Mukilteo teacher, will lead a project on salmon genetics and Schulz, who won a research fellowship from the National Science Foundation to Antarctica, will guide projects on organisms that live in extreme environments. Dr. Michael Jacobs, plant biologist, will handle administration.

Ultimately 100 students

Beginning with a pilot program of 24 students this summer, BioLab will ultimately enable about 100 students to spend their after-school hours, weekends and summers doing what they love - science.

Next fall, BioLab will move to its permanent home, a four-story building about five blocks from the Day Campus, and will hire more staff as the program grows. BioLab now leases lab space from the Hutch on the fourth floor of the Thomas building, and the staff agrees that proximity to Hutch scientists has been key to a smooth start.

Dr. Lee Hartwell, Center president and director, serves on BioLab's national board of advisers. Hutchison is a consultant and Seattle advisory board member, and Dr. Marilyn Cornwell serves as a consultant.

In addition to scientific mentors, the program will partner with entrepreneurs to help students learn to cultivate real-world solutions from innovative discoveries. But the founders recognize that it's impossible to predict where a group of creative, independent young thinkers will lead them.

"Their creativity," Chowning says, "probably surpasses anything we can imagine right now."

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