Juniors in Dr. Furman’s research elective took a trip to Rutgers to hear from Dr. Andrew Vershon, a principal investigator at Waksman Institute, a professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry and Director of the Waksman Student Scholars Program at Rutgers University.

This workshop is a part of the Waksman Student Scholars Program, a year-long program at Rutgers that allows high school students to research basic concepts and relevant themes in molecular biology, bioinformatics and computational biology, using the internet.

“The Waksman Student Scholars Program is an amazing opportunity for students to carry out authentic research in molecular biology and experience, firsthand, how real science is carried out,” said Dr. Furman. “Students learn as much from the experiments that don’t work as those that do, and it is a joy to watch them work as a team to brainstorm possible sources of error in the data. They also acquire skills both in the laboratory and in the field of bioinformatics that will prepare them well for advanced study in college.”

Frisch students presented their data to the students and faculty of nearly 60 other schools who are participating in this program.