DNA barcoding

The COVID-19 pandemic has likely confounded your life as a teacher and made it difficult or impossible to offer lab experiences to your students. The DNA Learning Center at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is offering exciting opportunities for your students to participate in authentic experiments using DNA sequencing—in spite of school or lab access problems caused by the pandemic. Each includes free supplies for in-class or at-home DNA isolations, PCR and electrophoresis, and free DNA sequencing. Mini-DNA thermal cycler and electrophoresis equipment kits are also available for loan.

The following experiments can be integrated into general or elective biology... Read more

With funding from the National Institutes of Health, the DNA Learning Center is launching a pilot project, US Ants, to show the feasibility of citizen scientists using DNA barcodes to identify and map the ant species of the United States. Just as a universal product code (UPC) identifies each commercial product, a DNA barcode can potentially identify each species of ant. We are looking for 50 small teams of people to help with the project. I am writing to InnovATEBIO partners because I think this project offers an opportunity for community college faculty and students to serve as mentors for... Read more

DNA Barcoding and Metabarcoding for CURES Workshops

Funded by the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Initiative

The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory DNA Learning Center (DNALC), in collaboration with New York City College of Technology (City Tech), Bowie State University (BSU), and James Madison University (JMU), is offering two five-day workshops on DNA barcoding or metabarcoding in course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). Applicants to these free workshops should be undergraduate teaching faculty with a sincere desire to involve students in authentic research projects, especially in CUREs for students in introductory courses.