By Andy Gilmore | University Communications
A partnership between researchers at University of Colorado Cancer Center and Overland High School is enabling high school students to conduct a state-of-the-art scientific experiment with real cancer cells.
Deborah Carnevale, a science teacher at Overland, believed that her senior students had the knowledge and skills to study cell culture, the process by which cells are grown under controlled conditions, usually outside of their natural environment.
In 2013, she approached Steven Nordeen, PhD, professor emeritus, in the Department of Pathology at the CU School of Medicine to work with her Introduction to Biotechnology students.
Nordeen devised an experiment designed to introduce students to cell culture and molecular biology techniques as well as some basic cellular biochemistry.
The experiments used a line of cancerous rodent cells that he had frozen in liquid nitrogen in 1986. “The students were blown away by the fact that the cells they were working with were almost twice as old as they were,” Nordeen says.
‘Crazy professor’
Overland ’s association with the Anschutz Medical Campus began 10 years ago when Carnevale would take her students on an annual tour of the campus laboratories. One of the professors she met was Nordeen.
“The students liked to see this crazy long-haired professor who showed up in torn jeans and T-shirts,” Nordeen says. “Students realized that their image of scientists as geeks in lab coats was not 100 percent accurate.”
Nordeen’s research focuses on the central role of hormones in some cancers. His focus is breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men.
“By understanding how these hormones work we hope to understand how they are driving growth in cancer cells,” he says.
Nordeen says cancer is a subject that the students can relate to.
“I said to the eight or nine female students, ‘Look around you. At least one of you is going to be diagnosed with breast cancer.’ That shook them up and made them realize that what they’re doing really does have some relevance.”
‘A golden age of molecular biology’
In 2013, the Introduction to Biotechnology class at Overland was approved by the state department of education and received a certification in career and technical education. A $12,000 federal grant followed, enabling Carnevale to purchase essential equipment for the cell culture experiments.
Although the Overland program is an introductory course, it is challenging. Students are required to have taken a chemistry class and demonstrate an interest in pursuing a career in science.
In the current experiments using cancerous rodent cells, the students are working with cells that were all deficient in an enzyme found in most living cells, called Thymidine Kinase. The students were asked to insert a functional Thymidine Kinase gene into the cells to enable them to grow under conditions that killed the original deficient cells.
“I was doing experiments similar to these when I was a post-doc,” Nordeen says. “Thirty years ago these experiments were at the forefront of the field and published in the highest-profile journals in the country, and while 30 years may seem like an eternity to the Overland students, the technical strategies are still commonly employed in laboratories today.”
While the techniques may be the same, science has advanced tremendously in the past 30 years. Nordeen describes the past three decades as “a golden age of molecular biology” that is currently being translated to new, improved strategies and therapies in medicine.
‘A head start’
Each year, former Overland students have progressed to jobs in labs while studying as freshman in college.
“It’s better than cleaning tables at the student union,” Carnevale says. “It gives them a head start. It’s such a great advantage.”
Carnevale hopes the success of the cell culture experiments will convince more Anschutz Medical Campus researchers to allow high school students into labs.
“I really want to reach out to the researchers at Anschutz to think about giving our students a chance,” she says. “I know the students could go into the labs and make a difference, even if it’s just cleaning glassware. Anything to get these students into the lab and involved in science.”
Nordeen agrees.
“This is about training these students for their future,” he says. “Maybe one of these students is going to be the next Nobel laureate. Although we’d love a renowned scientist to come out of the program, we’d be delighted to provide the kickstart needed to propel some of these kids toward successful careers in science.”
Contact: Vicki.Hildner@ucdenver.edu