Pupils explore biotechnology at Jackson Lab

BAR HARBOR – A group of youngsters from throughout the state got an inside look at The Jackson Laboratory on Sunday during a one-day “Explorations in Biotechnology and Bioengineering” conference.

Planned by the lab for the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth, or CTY, the conference involved 38 eighth- and ninth-grade pupils and family members, most of them from Maine. The center arranges for such programs all around the country, according to Jon Geiger of the lab’s educational programs office.

Youngsters qualify for the CTY program through a search that identifies those with exceptional mathematical or verbal abilities. Pupils who score in the top 3 percentile on regular achievement tests are invited to participate. According to organizers, the program provides a way for qualifying pupils to meet in an intellectual setting and share their talents, while gaining an understanding of a specific area of research.

“They try to provide supplemental intellectual activities for these really bright kids,” Geiger said.

With this year’s theme biotechnology, Johns Hopkins officials asked Jackson Lab to arrange the conference, the first of its type that the CTY has held in Maine, Geiger said.

“The idea is to excite them about science,” he said. “That’s what Johns Hopkins wants us to do.”

The pupils split their time between the Jackson Lab computer center and its mouse research area, learning about genetics and how genetically engineered mice are being used in research projects. Volunteer staff and scientists from the lab, College of the Atlantic, Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory and the University of Maine participated in the conference.

Participating youngsters heard lectures from top research scientists and met representatives of the more than 2,000 strains of mice that have been bred at the lab.

“It was pretty cool,” said one pupil.

Meanwhile, parents and other family members attended separate lectures and discussions about science and educating gifted students.

“I think the goal was the same for us,” said parent Susan Powers of Auburn. “There are a lot more opportunities now. I think they’re trying to do something to get us excited about the possibilities for different kinds of futures for our kids.”