蘑菇短视频

TRIO Students Work On Gene Editing During Summer Academy

August 31, 2026

A handful of rising high school seniors from Sussex County spent part of their summer break completing a gene editing work study program at the 蘑菇短视频 Technical Community College Jack F. Owens Campus in Georgetown. The unique opportunity, which was supported by ChristianaCare’s Gene Editing Institute, was part of the campus’ TRIO program Summer Academy.

TRIO 蘑菇短视频, offered through the College’s division of Workforce Development and Community Education, are designed to identify promising students, prepare them to do college work, and provide information on academic and financial aid opportunities. Students invited to enroll in the gene editing program all participated in the TRIO Upward Bound program last summer and have career interests in science or the medical and healthcare fields.

In the work study program, students got hands-on experience performing gene editing by using the CRISPR in a Box™ kit. CRISPR in a Box™ allows students to perform authentic CRISPR gene-editing reactions in vitro using many of the same fundamental techniques used in modern research laboratories.

“This is a really special opportunity,” said Luz Collazo, a science instructor on the Owens Campus who taught the Summer Academy gene editing program. “The students get introduced to gene editing, which most people don’t get their hands on until after college, to be quite honest. It’s very in depth, and it’s a nice exposure as a preview into working in the biotech industry.”

For Jeanne Georges, who attends Seaford High School and plans to major in biochemistry in college, being able to take part in the gene-editing program was a perfect match.

“I already had a fascination with CRISPR because I love science and I love biology,” she said. “When my Upward Bound advisor told us about the program, I knew I wanted to sign up because this gives me hands-on, first-hand experience of what it feels like to work in a lab. I had already learned about CRISPR, so I knew how it worked, so to actually work with the technology is really cool.”

Fellow Seaford high school student Shama Estimable, who plans to be a physician’s assistant or a pediatric nurse, also found the summer academy offering to be a great fit.

“I jumped on the opportunity,” she said. “I like the science-y side of stuff, so why not dive deeper into it? This experience has been really amazing. I love it.”

Georges and Estimable, along with Sussex Central High School seniors-to-be Will West, Yannis Velazquez, and Sophia Chilel Martin, worked with Collazo to complete the in vitro gene-editing kit over the course of six lab sessions.

Gene editing is a multi-step process, beginning with an in-vitro reaction in which CRISPR is used to cut DNA at a specific location and the necessary reagents are added.

“We use CRISPR to make a targeted cut in the DNA and provide the components needed for the DNA to be repaired with the intended change,” Collazo said. “All these reactions are happening in a mini tube.”

After the DNA has been repaired, it gets introduced to E. coli, which is the vessel being used to actually reproduce the gene.

“Once we have the E. coli, we culture it and we grow it on a growth medium. From that growth medium, we can actually visually determine whether the editing worked,” said Collazo. “If it changed our colony colors to white instead of blue, it means that our gene splicing worked.”

Collazo was excited for the opportunity to offer her students the chance to experience the advanced process of gene editing, but how the students accepted the challenge was even more rewarding.

“In just a few short weeks, many of them went from never having used a micropipette or seen a centrifuge to successfully completing a complex CRISPR gene-editing workflow requiring precision, teamwork, careful attention to detail, and confidence with unfamiliar laboratory equipment and techniques,” she said. “Watching that growth was one of the highlights of my summer.”