Saturday DNA! Sessions

Butterfly Secrets

Join us to learn the fascinating facts behind butterflies!

What do you know about butterflies? They are good pollinators, beautiful, and calming to some. Surprisingly, there are over 17,000 different species of these flying insects found across the globe! They have traits to confuse their predators, special relationships with specific plants, and sometimes migrate thousands of miles to breed. Despite all of these interesting differences, they can all be grouped into just six taxonomic families. Come and explore some of the characteristics of these fascinating insects, and try your hand at classifying them.

Participants will:

• learn butterfly basics, including anatomy;
• compare different families of butterflies; and
• classify butterfly groups in a hands-on activity.

Mystery of Anastasia (Cancelled)

Join us to puzzle out the answers to a century-old royal mystery!

Many stories have been told about the Romanovs, the last Royal Family of Russia. In 1918, when the Romanovs went missing, there were rumors that the family was murdered. Yet in 1920, a woman resurfaced in Germany claiming to be Princess Anastasia. What evidence did she have? Could she be lying? Did anyone believe her? Join us and uncover answers to The Mystery of Anastasia!

In this session, participants will:

• perform a computer-based lab;
• collect and analyze forensic evidence; and
• compare DNA sequences to determine the mystery woman’s identity.

Agar Art

In this hands-on workshop, participants will create artistic masterpieces with glowing bacteria.

Traditional laboratory techniques utilized by scientists to study the world on both a macroscopic and microscopic scale can also be used to create unique works of art. Participants will learn multiple techniques to create unique “paintings” with harmless microbes that express colorful proteins as pigment. A link will be sent to all participants the week after class with their artistic results.

The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) hosts an annual Agar Art contest. The theme this year is “Your Favorite Microbiologist”. If you want to enter the Agar Art contest, we recommend bringing pictures or drawings of your favorite microbiologist to use as a guide.

In this session, participants will:

• learn how bacteria can be engineered to produce different fluorescent proteins;
• create agar art using genetically engineered bacteria; and
• have the chance to submit art to the ASM Agar Art contest.

Dust Away Crime: The Truth About Fingerprints

For over a century, fingerprints have been used in criminal investigations. Because an individual’s fingerprints are unique, they can be used to link a suspect to a crime. Join us to learn about the many ways criminologists use fingerprints and try some modern techniques for fingerprint collection and analysis.

In this session, participants will:

• complete an FBI-style fingerprinting ID card;
• analyze your own unique fingerprints; and
• learn how to dust for prints.

Cancer Cells Under the Scope

Did you know that some cells are considered to be “immortal”? The first immortal human cells to be grown in a lab were HeLa cells, a cancer cell line taken from a woman named Henrietta Lacks without her knowledge or permission. Join us to discuss the story of Henrietta Lacks, how her cells have shaped cancer research, and the importance of ethics in biomedical research. We will also look at chromosomes from cancer cells under a microscope and learn about karyotyping and how karyotypes can be used to detect chromosomal abnormalities.

In this session, participants will:

• Look at human chromosome spreads under a microscope;
• simulate human karyotyping using chromosome models; and
• discuss the story of Henrietta Lacks and the importance of ethics in biomedical research.

*Scholarships: Scholarships are available upon request for students with a financial need and students who are Underrepresented Minorities (URM) in STEM—defined by the National Science Foundation as Black or African American; American Indian or Native Alaskan; Hispanic or Latino; and Native Pacific Islander. To request a scholarship, please email dnalc@ cshl.edu with the student’s name and why you are requesting a scholarship (financial need and/or URM in STEM).

Jack-o'-lantern Genetics

Learn how Mendel's laws can make a fright-tastic jack-o'-lantern for Halloween fun!

In the 1800’s Gregor Mendel, the “Father of Genetics”, used plants to show how traits were passed from one generation to the next. Mendel’s observed laws of inheritance explain how some genetic diseases and traits are inherited, how children can have different traits from their parents, and why some traits can “skip” generations.

In this session, participants will:

• learn about Gregor Mendel’s classic experiments with pea plants;
• use Punnett squares to predict outcomes of genetic crosses; and
• build and design a jack-o'-lantern with unique genetic traits following Mendel’s laws.

Halloween at the DNA Learning Center NYC

Join us for a Halloween-themed morning of science!

Ages 10–13 session

Join us to do hands-on science experiments with a Halloween theme. Costumes are welcome!

What is DNA and where is it stored in a cell? We will extract DNA from pumpkins. We will then make candy models of DNA and learn how DNA mutations can lead to mutant creatures.

In this activity, you will:

• Learn how to extract DNA from cells;
• create a model of DNA from candy; and
• observe mutant fruit flies (D. melanogaster) and roundworms (C. elegans).

Ages 13–16 session (Cancelled)

Join us to do hands-on science experiments with a Halloween theme. Costumes are welcome!

To identify species of plants and their relationships to each other, we can use a technique called DNA barcoding. To learn about the principles of DNA barcoding, with a spooky twist, we will learn how to extract DNA from pumpkins. We will then learn how to classify organisms based on shared traits and DNA relationships, modeling phylogenetic trees using candy bars.

In this activity, you will:

• Learn how to extract DNA from plant cells;
• learn about evolutionary relationships between species; and
• build a phylogenetic tree using traits of candy bars.

The Hominin Family Tree

Join us to learn how the fossil record and ancient DNA evidence help us answer the question: Where do we come from?

The 2022 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was just awarded to geneticist and evolutionary anthropologist Svante Pääbo for the study of extinct human ancestors. Hominins are the group consisting of humans and all of the now extinct relatives in the lineage that led to Homo sapiens after splitting off from our common ancestor with other primates. Much of what we understand about evolutionary relationships among our early human ancestors comes from their fossils. Join us to learn about the how scientists like Dr. Pääbo combine findings from the fossil record and ancient DNA evidence to address the age-old question, "where do we come from?"

In this activity, participants will:

• examine a series of traits on skull casts of ancient human ancestors;
• explore the evolutionary relationships among early human ancestors using fossil and genetic evidence; and
• create a hominin family tree using compiled class results.