Students in Erica Thompson and Nicole Taylor’s new Science National Honor Society at Athens High School visited the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville March 12.

Students participated in a learning activity facilitated by HudsonAlpha’s April Reis and Bobbi Johnston called Jumping Genes where they learned about Alu insertions, one of the more widely studied DNA changes, representing approximately 5 percent of the human genome. In this lab-based experience, students used various laboratory skills and techniques while examining their own DNA for the presence or absence of an Alu insertion at a particular chromosome location.

Reis, Johnston and the rest of HudsonAlpha’s Educational Outreach team work to foster a genetics-literate society and train Alabama’s future biotechnology workforce. HudsonAlpha is a nonprofit organization dedicated to using genomics to improve life through discovery, education, and economic development in the genomic sciences. The campus includes nearly 50 biotech companies and has 152 acres located within Cummings Research Park, the second-largest research park in the nation. To learn more about HudsonAlpha, visit hudsonalpha.org.