Making Medicine in Middle School
How to Make a Medicine may be a course offered in college, but it is also a new elective class for LJCDS students in Grades 7–8. The elective teaches students how to make an actual anti-cancer medicine—the very same drug that saved the life of a girl around their age who was diagnosed with brain cancer, stage four pediatric neuroblastoma.
The analogy Leigh Pierce, Middle School science teacher, uses to describe how to make a medicine is getting a needle out of a haystack: “First, we make a haystack; then we get the needle out of the haystack, and then we make sure we have the right needle. To do this, we culture and grow cells in a bioreactor (making the haystack), then we purify the medicine out of the bioreactor (separating out the needle), then we analyze the medicine to make sure it’s there, and we separate it out.”
Assignments have included taking pH strips home to test liquids around the house; formulating buffers by calculating the amount of chemicals needed; measuring, mixing and adjusting the pH of the solutions; and performing analysis of bioreactor samples by testing pH, glucose, cell count and viability determination. The new vocabulary words the students acquired include electrophoresis and suspension cells.
Electrophoresis
e·lec·tro·pho·re·sis
noun
a laboratory method used to separate mixtures of DNA, RNA or proteins according to molecular size and charge.
Suspension Cells
sus·pen·sion cells
noun
cells that grow free-floating in the culture medium.
Learning how to use the new technology—bioreactors, serological pipettes, micropipettes, pH meters, centrifuges and peristaltic pumps—has been a highlight.
“In order to teach the students how to culture cells,” shares Ms. Pierce, “we obtained a biosafety cabinet to provide a sterile environment for the cells, a CO2 incubator to grow the cells in shake flasks, microscopes to observe and count the cells, centrifuges to spin the cells down, gel rigs to run electrophoresis gels, micropipettes to transfer liquids as well as many other pieces of equipment to bring this important technology to our students.”
After spending over 25 years in the biotech industry, including founding and running her own contract development and manufacturing company, Ms. Pierce enjoys teaching a class that makes a real-world connection to what science developments can do for humanity. “I think showing the students what part science can play in the world and their lives makes it come alive,” she shares. “It transforms it from abstract concepts into techniques that are applicable in everyday life and can be used in extraordinary ways to save and improve lives.”
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La Jolla, CA 92037
858-453-3440
© 2024 La Jolla Country Day School
Privacy Policy
COVID-19 Prevention Plan
