¼ø»Æʦapp

The new STEM Training Hub at ¼ø»Æʦapp's John D. MacArthur Campus in Jupiter launched its first Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE).

This advanced course led by Bethany Stanhope, Ph.D., the executive director for academic operations of ¼ø»Æʦapp's Jupiter Campus and, Johanna Kowalko, Ph.D., an assistant professor of biology in ¼ø»Æʦapp's Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College is training ¼ø»Æʦapp from ¼ø»Æʦapp's Charles E. Schmidt College of Science and Harriet L. Wilkes  Honors College in the newest Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) gene-editing technologies to generate original scientific data for publication.

These ¼ø»Æʦapp are currently exploring bioinformatics databases to select  genes to test related to eyes, pigmentation and taste bud development. Throughout the semester, ¼ø»Æʦapp will continue to learn and apply CRISPR tools to generate mutant fish for analysis, and present posters at a local conference in April.

Undergraduates also benefit from guest expert instructors, Suzanne McGaugh, Ph.D.,(University of Minnesota) and Nicolas Rohner, PhD., (Stowers Institute). The course is part of several joint National Science Foundation (NSF) cavefish grants awarded to Dr. Kowalko, Erik Duboué, Ph.D., an assistant professor of biology in ¼ø»Æʦapp's Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, and , Ph.D., an associate professor of biological sciences in ¼ø»Æʦapp's  to expand undergraduate training and outreach. 

Development of additional CURE courses will continue to provide ¼ø»Æʦapp with unmatched opportunities at ¼ø»Æʦapp Jupiter.