Pilgrim High School students Amanda Legare, Bryan Hallinan, C.J. Beneduce and Ed Whitem, all 16, demonstrate an experiment in which they extract and isolate DNA, part of a science program at Rhode Island College that they attended with students from six high schools.

The Providence Journal / Bill Murphy

PROVIDENCE –– It was what you’d expect a college science lab to look like. A few students wearing safety goggles and gloves were bent over glass containers and machines; others stared at intricate models of DNA on their computer screens next door, and still others scribbled in their notebooks or typed on their keyboards.

But the 14 students, dressed in T-shirts, tank tops, shorts and skirts, were not college students. They came together from six high schools at Rhode Island College’s Clarke Science Building for a weeklong research program.

The program, called “Large Molecule-Small Molecule Interactions,” was started this year by two RIC professors to introduce high school students to biotechnology and genetics research, and to give them the opportunity to work closely with their science teachers, said Paul J. Tiskus, associate professor of science education, who cofounded the program with John Williams, professor of chemistry.

Participating schools included Pilgrim High School in Warwick, Exeter-West Greenwich High School, Westerly High School, Scituate High School, Times{+2} Academy and Mount Pleasant High School.

Surrounded by periodic tables, computers, microscopes and other expensive lab equipment, the students conducted experiments to study whether the small molecules of different chemicals had any effect on the large molecule –– DNA extracted from salmon.

Tiskus said his primary goal in starting the program, financed by a three-year $150,000 grant from the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education, was to get teachers and a few students excited about research so that their enthusiasm could spill over into their classrooms. The teachers worked with Tiskus and Williams for an extra week before the students arrived, helping them develop protocols for the experiments and getting familiar with the lab equipment, some of which they hadn’t used before.

“It’s really an intimate interaction … a collaboration between teachers and students,” Tiskus said, who hopes the program sparked some students’ interest in research opportunities at RIC. “They’re a team. They’re learning together, working together, problem-solving together.”

Many of the students had never worked in labs outside of their high schools before.

“We’re actually working hands-on with the chemicals we’re learning about,” said Bryan J. Hallinan, 16, of Pilgrim High School.

“It’s a step beyond school,” agreed Amanda Y. Legare, 16, who will be a senior at Pilgrim this fall.

Though the research was basic, it furthered the students’ understanding of how chemicals alter DNA, affect the production of proteins and in due course, adversely affect the normal functioning of cells. This knowledge could then be used to conduct more advanced research. For example, chemicals that are found not to interact with DNA could be used to manufacture pesticides and herbicides safer for both humans and the environment, Tiskus said.

Last Friday, each school showed its findings to the others and to a group of RIC faculty members, putting together a PowerPoint presentation with images from computer simulations, photos, tables and graphs. The faculty asked questions and gave the students feedback, prompting them to look more closely and critically at their results.

“The students want results and want something dramatic to happen,” Tiskus said. “But conclusions from research are not that easily drawn, and so when there are alternative hypotheses that may be possible, students need to refrain from doing that.”

Though the program was only a week long, the students will continue working with their teachers throughout the school year on similar projects. They will be able to use the labs at RIC or take turns borrowing equipment bought specifically for the program, Tiskus said.

Next summer, Tiskus and Williams said they will invite students and teachers from other schools to repeat the same experiments, as well as have the groups from this summer conduct similar ones.

The program served as many students’ initiation into the world of scientific research. Some of them might choose to pursue it for the rest of their lives, perhaps making invaluable discoveries about the causes of deadly diseases and helping root them out altogether.

As Tiskus aptly put it, “Life is a puzzle; every little piece we have allows us to paint the picture with a little bit more detail.”

njayakri@projo.com