SBU Biomedical Engineers Bring ‘Genes in a Bottle’ to 5th Graders 

Promoting Early Interest in STEM Education at Local Elementary Schools

Faculty and students from Stony Brook’s Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) provided a hands-on science experiment to fifth graders in five elementary schools for more than 250 students on Long Island. Their goal is to help promote an early interest in STEM education through the Science Ambassador Program sponsored by Bio-Rad, a chemical supply company.

Led by the BME’s honor society Alpha Eta Mu Beta (AEMB), the Stony Brook group taught these fifth graders about DNA with the ‘Genes in a Bottle’ experiment. Through simple steps, students isolated their very own DNA from their cheek cells. The isolated DNA was stored in an amulet that was converted into a keepsake necklace.

The event was made possible through the AEMB committee, particularly Ravi Patel (President), Adiba Chowdhury (BMES Liaison), Arun Ajay (Secretary), Bilal Haider (Webmaster) and Lukas Vasadi (Vice President), as well as faculty advisor Dr. M. Ete Chan and numerous BME students who generously contributed their time to prepare for the experimental lesson and to generate 3D-printed DNA gifts for the fif^th graders.