Ma’ayanot’s AP Biology students visited the Dolan DNA Learning Center (DNALC) in Manhattan, an opera­ting unit of the renowned Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island. The girls had the unique opportunity to perform a DNA restriction analysis lab in a professional setting. Restric­tion enzymes are enzymes which cut DNA, the gene­tic material, at specific, predictable sites, func­tioning as a “molecular scissors.” With their teacher, Esther Slomnicki, Ma’ayanot juniors and seniors used a mystery restriction enzyme to cut DNA originating from a virus. They then used a technique called “agarose gel electrophoresis,” which separates DNA fragments based on their size and were able to visualize the DNA and determine which enzyme was used.