Cancer afflicts more and more people in our lives. It can be hard to find someone close to you who doesn't have at least one cancer patient in their family. As cancer becomes more common, researchers are gearing up to find ways to combat tumor growth. One such method is finding drugs to stop their growth by studying various enzymes that affect tumor cells in different ways from normal cells. In this class, I will give a simplified overview of how to find and study such enzymes and what it takes to actually find a medicine that works.

This class will teach students how to run DNA gel electrophoresis using simple and cheap ingredients that can be bought from local stores. Normally, gel electrophoresis requires expensive and delicate equipment that are difficult for many students to access. The purpose of the DIY Biology movement is to make biology more accessible to the general public. In class, we will not only run the gel, but during the downtime, such as when the gel is cooling or running, I will explain how electrophoresis works and how the technique can be used for other macromolecules, such as proteins.

Insects and bugs are all around us. There are over hundreds of thousands of species so far discovered. Compare that to the number of mammalian species, which only number 5000 or so! I will teach anyone interested all about how to collect, preserve, and study these various insects and bugs. You will be surprised just how many species you could find around your house or at school. At my high school, I found and identified over a hundred different species, using only two capturing methods! I will also briefly describe my high school research project that I did with beetles and the great experiences that stemmed from it.

What are bugs? What makes them bugs? What makes them so diverse and numerous? Why do we bother studying about ...