National DNA Day is coming to Oklahoma City Community College Friday, April 25 and bringing with it more than 300 students from Putnam City and Oklahoma City Public Schools as well as Calumet, Lawton MacArthur, Wellston, and Geronimo High Schools.
DNA Day at OCCC also features a performance of Ferocious Beauty: Genome, a dance review presented by the nationally recognized Liz Lerman Dance Exchange.
Started in 2003, National DNA Day commemorates the successful completion of the Human Genome Project and the anniversary of the publication of DNA's double helix structure in 1953. The event aims to engage and excite the students about genomics and to inform them of career options.
"Cracking the code of the human genome was a major milestone that now has opened new opportunities for inquiry into fields as diverse as molecular biology, computer science and bioethics," said Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute. "National DNA Day encourages a new generation to join in the exciting progress being made in using genomics to improve human health."
Students from all over the state of Oklahoma will commemorate the day with OCCC Biotechnology/Bioinformatics Discovery Project sponsored classroom activities that range from DNA art projects, a DNA Day essay contest sponsored by OCCC Biotechnology/Bioinformatics Discovery Project and hands on science lab experiences. The National Human Genome Research Institute of NIH is also hosting an all-day online chat room staffed by genomic researchers.
"Genomics has grown in its relevance for students in Oklahoma and everywhere, whether as a unit in biology or as a current topic in social studies," said Dr. Charlotte Mulvihill, Ed.D, director of Advanced Technology Education programs at OCCC. "The National DNA Day Program provides students with insight on how to go about pursuing career opportunities in genetics and genomics research and will illustrate advances being made practically every day in Oklahoma in this promising field."
DNA Day at OCCC begins with the DNA symposium, organized by the Biotechnology and Bioinformatics Discovery Project at OCCC. The symposium consists of panels of speakers for topics that include clinical trials, stem cell research, newborn screening, biomedical research companies and careers, and individuals and family members living with genetic diversity. Students will be able to browse educational exhibits on related topics by representatives of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Huntington's Disease Support group and others during a lunch break provided by the Oklahoma City Community College Biotech Club.
Then in the afternoon, students are treated to Ferocious Beauty: Genome as the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange explores the current historic moment of revelation and questioning in genetic research through interpretive dance.
For more information on DNA Day or the Advanced Technology Education programs at OCCC, please log on to: www.occc.edu/biotech/
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