In one lab in December, the CRLS students isolated their own DNA (their results were sent out for sequencing, and reports returned to them several days later for analysis). In another, the students produced a red fluorescent protein — used in the field for in vivo imaging — with common biotech tools.

Alia Qatarneh, the site coordinator of the ABE program at Harvard, leads teacher ABE workshops, training, and student labs. Qatarneh said she is particularly excited that the program was just implemented at her alma mater, Boston Latin School, where she was able to teach an ABE lab to four advanced placement biology classes last fall.

“It was amazing to go back to Boston Latin and think of my own experience as a high school student. I was so into science and loved hands-on things, but didn’t take AP biology because I was scared,” she said. “If I were a high school student and I had a chance to hold pipettes, to change the genetic makeup of bacteria to make it glow in the dark, how cool would that be?”

An assessment by the nonprofit research firm WestEd found that the ABE program substantially adds to students’ knowledge of biotechnology, and increases their interest and confidence in their scientific abilities. The program is open and for free participating high school biology students, including those with learning disabilities, and even those without an interest in science.

“Students may say, ‘Wow biotech, I didn’t know that this field existed. I thought that if I liked science I had to be a doctor, and now I have this whole different path in front of me,’” Qatarneh said.

Arocho said her students love going to Harvard, seeing what the labs look like, and doing their work there. “Alia always starts by telling them that this is the exact same lab that the Harvard freshman are doing, and the exact same place, so they do get excited about that,” she said.

CRLS junior Peter Fulweiler, one of Arocho’s students, said the best part is taking what he learned in the classroom and putting it all together in the lab.

“I love the hands-on part of this. It’s really interesting, because it’s not like we are reading instructions; we are making an attempt to actually understand what we are learning by doing it,” he said. “The bonus is that we get to find out where we are from on our mothers’ side.”

Science teacher Lawrence Spezzano is one of 10 instructors at Boston Latin now implementing the ABE program. He said it allows for flexibility and differentiation, and enhances learning opportunities as well as classroom logistics.

“The program was perfect. As an AP biology teacher struggling to fit more labs and biotechnology into a time-constrained curriculum, the mapped-out process is creative and engaging to both me and my students,” Spezzano said.

Kerri Sands, a junior at CRLS, said she has always dreamed of being a geneticist. She wants to eventually change the future of medicine, and now feels like she can.

“I just love the science of this, the lab is like my home. I love the whole experience of everything from the micro pipetting to the centrifuging. I love it all,” she said. “This has made my passion for science even stronger.”