Virginia Tech Helps More Than 13,000 Students Across The State Learn About Biotechnology

BLACKSBURG, June 17, 2003 -- More than 13,000 middle, high school, and college students in Virginia will have learned about biotechnology by the end of the current school year, thanks to equipment and assistance provided by Virginia Tech's Fralin Biotechnology Center.

In addition to 79 middle and high schools across the state, the Fralin Center also loaned equipment to four community colleges.

"Biotechnology is about science, but it's also about economic development opportunities for Virginia's communities and the potential for the creation of new cutting-edge companies that will need these very students as employees in the future," said Dennis Dean, acting director of the Fralin Center.

"Our equipment loan program is designed to familiarize young people with the promise and limitations of biotechnology," he said. "At the same time we hope to interest a number of these bright young people to set their sights on an educational path that would prepare them for employment in this new industry."

To accomplish this, the center conducts training sessions for secondary school teachers and college instructors on a variety of laboratory techniques used in biotechnology. With that training, those teachers are eligible to borrow five specialized laboratory kits that allow them to introduce to their students certain concepts and advanced laboratory techniques that are central to biotechnology.

By borrowing the kits, the teachers have access to laboratory equipment most schools cannot afford to purchase. They are also provided with all of the supplies they will need to use during experiments.

"The teachers who have borrowed our kits tell us that their students really like the experiments because they are designed to get these concepts across in ways that are relevant to them and that are fun," said Kristi DeCourcy, the center's lab manager and manager of the equipment loan program.

The five types of kits loaned by the Fralin Center provide the equipment and supplies necessary to conduct experiments and teach concepts concerning DNA science, column chromatography, immunology, and protein electrophoresis. In addition, the center also has several thermal cyclers available which can be borrowed to perform additional experiments.

The experiments made possible with the kits teach students about DNA fingerprinting, the spread of diseases in a population, the relationship of different species through an examination of their proteins, and how and why scientists can separate individual components from a mixture.

Classes benefiting from the kits were classes in biology, biotechnology, anatomy and physiology, genetics, chemistry, molecular biology, microbiology, environmental studies, marine biology, and research methods.

The Fralin Center also loans other equipment when possible to help teachers with experiments they design themselves.

NOTE TO REPORTERS: For more information about the Fralin Biotechnology Center's equipment loan program, call Kristi DeCourcy at (540) 231-7959

Fralin Center Equipment Loans - 2002-2003 School Year

Abingdon -- Abingdon High School
Alberta -- Governor's School for Global Economics and Technology
Alexandria -- Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Alexandria -- Thomas Jefferson School for Science and Technology
Altavista -- Altavista High School
Annandale -- Northern Virginia Community College
Arlington -- Bishop O'Connell High School
Arlington -- Teen Parenting Programs
Ashburn -- Broad Run High School
Ashland -- Patrick Henry High School
Bedford -- Liberty High School
Blacksburg -- Blacksburg High School
Bristol -- Virginia High School
Burke -- Lake Braddock High School
Charlottesville -- Charlottesville High School
Charlottesville -- Piedmont Virginia Community College
Charlottesville -- St. Anne's-Belfield
Chesapeake -- Great Bridge High School
Chesapeake -- Hickory High School
Christiansburg -- Christiansburg High School
Clifton -- Centreville High School
Clintwood -- Clintwood High School
Colonial Heights -- Colonial Heights Middle School
Crozet -- Western Albemarle High School
Daleville -- Lord Botetourt High School
Danville -- Global Village Focus School
Dinwiddie -- Dinwiddie High School
Dumphries -- Potomac Senior High School
Fairfax -- Fairfax High School
Fairfax -- Lanier Middle School
Fairfax Station -- Fairfax Baptist Temple Academy
Falls Church -- Jeb Stuart High School
Falls Church -- Luther Jackson Middle School
Fishersville -- Shenandoah Valley Governor's School
Forest -- Jefferson Forest High School
Fredericksburg -- Chancellor High School
Fredericksburg -- James Monroe High School
Fredericksburg -- Massaponax High School
Front Royal -- Randolph Macon Academy
Galax -- Galax High School
Glade Spring -- Patrick Henry High School
Glenns -- Rappahannock Community College
Gloucester -- Gloucester High School
Goochland -- Goochland County High School
Honaker -- Honaker High School
Lancaster -- Lancaster High School
Leesburg -- Loudoun County High School
Manassas -- Osbourn Park High School
Mechanicsville -- Atlee High School
Midlothian -- Midlothian High School
Milford -- Caroline High School
Mineral -- Louisa County High School
Nickelsville -- Twin Springs High School
Nokesville -- Brentsville District High School
Norfolk -- Tidewater Community College
Nottoway -- Nottoway High School
Petersburg -- Appomattox Regional Governor's School
Radford -- Dalton Intermediate School
Richlands -- Southwest Virginia Community College
Richmond -- Collegiate School
Richmond -- DS Freeman High School
Richmond -- Henrico High School
Richmond -- Maggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies
Richmond -- Monacan High School
Richmond -- St. Gertrude High School
Riner -- Auburn High School
Roanoke -- Cave Spring High School
Roanoke -- Faith Christian School
Roanoke -- Roanoke Valley Governor's School
Spotsylvania -- Spotsylvania High School
Spotsylvania -- Thornburg Middle School
Stanardsville -- William Monroe High School
Stephens City -- Sherando High School
Stuarts Draft -- Ridgeview Christian School
Suffolk -- Nansemond River High School
Tappahannock -- Essex High School
Tazewell -- Tazewell High School
Vienna -- James Madison High School
Vienna -- Oakton High School
Virginia Beach -- First Colonial High School
Virginia Beach -- Ocean Lakes High School
Virginia Beach -- Princess Anne High School
Winchester -- James Wood High School