Quad City Times, IA
02/08/06
Students learn about the real world of ‘CSI’
science
By Dawn Feddersen
None of the dogs were talking, so it was up to the Davenport West High School
AP biology class to use DNA evidence to determine the canine culprit.
And it was up to Mike Zeller, the biotechnology outreach educator from Iowa
State University, to teach them how to do it.
“It gives them exposure to cutting-edge technology,” said Zeller, a former high
school science teacher who now visits high school classrooms around Iowa,
giving students an introduction to the biotechnology field.
Iowa State’s Biotechnology Public Education Program has been educating
Iowans about the science underlying 21st century biotechnology developments
and the associated economic, ethical, and social issues since 1988.
Vanessa Moon, a senior at West, said she learned a lot more from Zeller’s
lesson than she ever did watching “CSI.”
“I always wondered what happened between when they discovered the clue and
when they found out whose it was,” she said.
Classmate Jerrica Bein, a junior, added, “Yeah, there’s a lot more to it than they
make it seem.”
Renne Lietz, the West AP biology students’ teacher, hopes the lesson will give
her students a better picture of the biology field.
“A lot of my students really like biology but they think the only thing they can do
with a biology major is teach or be a doctor,” Lietz said.
Zeller also wants to make the students aware of how quickly the biotechnology
field is expanding.
“These kids don’t realize that McDonald’s has been around longer than we’ve
known about DNA. And just look at what’s been done in the last 50 years. We
use genetic engineering to do everything now,” he said.
Next summer, Lietz plans to receive training from Iowa State’s Biotechnology
Public Education Program in order to make the lesson a more permanent part of
her curriculum.
In addition to cracking the chewed shoes case, Zeller also showed the students
how to get a look at their own DNA from a swab of saliva. But as class ended,
Lietz instructed her students to take the test tubes with their DNA with them.
Of the large possibilities of such a small quantity of genetic information, she
joked, “You never know what’ll happen if you leave your DNA behind. We could
try to clone you.”
The city desk can be contacted at
(563) 383-2245 or newsroom@qctimes.com.