May 3, 2012
The Exonian reports

New Bio Course to Bring Stanford Research to Exeter

By Sarah Hannigan Staff Writer

Select uppers and seniors will be performing their own research on fruit flies next spring term in collaboration with an Exeter alum’s laboratory at Stanford University.

The science department’s newly minted elective, Biology 374, offers students the opportunity to search for gene expression in regions of fly DNA. Admission to the course, which the faculty approved on Monday, is by application only. “I think the course will be an amazing opportunity for students who are interested in pursuing research beyond what is offered in our current biology courses,” instructor in biology Michele Chapman said.

“Students will do relevant, hands-on research that will require a deep understanding of Drosophila genetics and development and a grasp of techniques that will be very useful for them in the future if they were to pursue biology in college or beyond.”

According to the course description, the chief goal of Dr. Seung Kim’s lab at Stanford “is to explore the function and development of insulin producing cells in humans with the ultimate goal of curing type I and type II diabetes.” Kim is a 1981 graduate of the Academy.

Kim came to campus in February and spoke at Assembly, visited classes and met the Biology Club.

“Dr. Kim enjoyed his visit to PEA very much and got so interested in collaborating on some research with Exeter students that he and his post-docs devised a 10-week experiment that has real potential to produce fly strains that will be very useful tools for researchers now and in the future,” Biology instructor Townley Chisholm said.

Kim approached Chisholm and science instructor Anne Rankin about a possible collaboration.

“[Rankin] and I travelled to visit his lab over March break,” Chisholm said.

“The course proposal worked its way through the Science Department, department chairs and full faculty in record time, because Dr. Kim has devoted so much of his lab's time and resources to making the experiment possible.”

John Blackwell, Chair of the Science Department, said the course meets the outreach goals Principal Tom Hassan has outlined.

“Mr. Hassan met with faculty and staff to discuss his vision for the school,” Blackwell said.

“One of the themes of this meeting was the importance of seeking meaningful connections for teachers and students with people outside of Exeter. This project seems to align perfectly with the Principal’s goals.”

According to the course description, effective strains of the flies made by the students will be used by Kim’s researchers and made accessible to all fruit fly researchers.

Rankin said the lab’s dependence on the students’ work would be a valuable element of the course.

 “This course feels very different to me from other courses I teach in that there are researchers waiting to use the tools created through this course in their own work,” she said. “This brings with it a level of accountability and responsibility not found in the other classes. I hope this gives the students a greater sense of purpose than their grade or preparation for a standardized test or even perhaps their own individual understanding of a body of knowledge.”

Many biology students are interested in taking advantage of the unique opportunity.

“I am applying to take this course my senior spring because it sounds really interesting, and who would not want to be a part of the effort to develop treatments or eventually a cure for diabetes?” upper Ya Sheng Lin said.

 “The science department's decision to offer this course is wonderful. This opportunity will not only allow students to perform science outside of the classroom, but also to impact people beyond Exeter.”

Lower Lloyd Feng feels students will be drawn to the elective by Kim’s assembly talk.

 “I think many kids on campus will really like [the course],” he said.

 “A lot of kids really liked Dr. Kim’s assembly speech, and are interested in the topic.”

Senior Jason Kang, the co-head of the Biology Club, recognizes the benefits of a research-focused course.

“The Biology 374 elective is amazing because it offers the opportunity to participate in real, publishable research, which is something that's very rare for a high school,” Kang said.

“It's especially exciting because we get to collaborate with a world-class institution like Stanford and with Dr. Seung Kim, who has one of the warmest hearts out of anyone I've ever met.”

Chisholm is expecting the application-only course to be challenging to get into.

“Ms. Rankin and I have no idea how much demand there will be for the course, but we expect entry will be competitive,” Chisholm said.
“We hope to fill two sections of six students each.”

The course application, which gives preference to students who have taken AP Biology, Biology 371 or Biology 272, is due May 7.

 Students admitted to the course as uppers will be eligible to apply for an internship at Kim’s lab the following summer.

Chisholm thinks the class will require much effort from the students involved. “We will need to work methodically, observe carefully and record everything in sight as we're going along,” Chisholm said.

“Students will need to understand the experimental design of what we are doing—and that design is not simple, but it is a superb example of the power of modern genetics.”