Wow - how smart are these High Schoolers?

  Courtesy of the NJ Herald

Submitted Photo - Dr. Andrew Vershon, director of the Waksman Student Scholars Program, looks at the DNA work of High Point students Sahil Suri, right, and Kiprian Gernat.Submitted Photo - Dr. Andrew Vershon, director of the Waksman Student Scholars Program, looks at the DNA work of High Point students Sahil Suri, right, and Kiprian Gernat.
WANTAGE — Two student from High Point Regional High School attended a three-week intensive summer research program at Rutgers University, Waksman Institute in July.

The students, juniors Kiprian Gernat and Sahil Suri, conducted research in molecular biology along with their teacher, Madelaine Travaille. The students identified genes in the organism Landoltia punctata and have submitted their discoveries for publication in the National Centers of Biotechnology Information database (NCBI). The NCBI database is used by scientists worldwide and advances science and health by providing access to biomedical and genomic information. 

Gernat and Suri presented their research on Atg8, an autophagy-related protein, to scientists at the Waksman Institute. They will be presenting their research to the High Point Regional High School Board of Education at the Board of Education meeting in September.

The High Point Waksman Student Scholars will continue their research during the school year as lead student scientists in the Science Research Club. In addition, this year students will be taking a new course, Introduction to Research in Molecular Biology, taught by Travaille, where they also will conduct advanced level research projects, such as genomic barcoding and RNAi.