Posted by: Kanika Pulliam, PhD, and Evelyn Mantegani, BA, ASHG Education Department
Happy DNA Day! Every April 25, we commemorate the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 and discovery of the double helix of DNA in 1953. ASHG marks this date each year by announcing the winners of our Annual DNA Day Essay Contest.
Open to high school students worldwide, the contest asks students to examine, question, and reflect on important concepts in genetics. This year’s theme was gene therapy. Students were asked to choose one modern example of gene therapy (since 2005), describe the disease or condition researchers are attempting to treat, and explain how the therapy or approach might repair the underlying cause of the disease or condition.
We received over 1100 essays from 38 U.S. states and 21 non-U.S. countries. Essays went through three rounds of scoring by ASHG members, who selected a first, second, and third place winner as well as 11 honorable mentions. ASHG will award monetary prizes to winning students as well as grants for genetics laboratory equipment to eligible teachers.
“This year’s essays continue the tradition of high-quality submissions…that we have seen for the past 12 years, and their enthusiasm for the science reflects the excitement that our members feel about their work,” said Joseph D. McInerney, MS, Executive Vice President of ASHG, in a press release.
Adele Peng, a freshman at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, received first place for her essay on using zinc finger nucleases to immunize against HIV. Sophia Spiegel, a junior at Bergen County Academies in Hackensack, New Jersey, received second place for her essay on using recombinant adeno-associated virus vectors to treat Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis. And Alvin Ya, a senior at Poolesville High School in Poolesville, Maryland, received third place for his essay on potential uses of CRISPR to treat muscular dystrophy.
For a full list of winners and honorable mentions, teachers, and excerpts from winning essays, check out the DNA Day 2017 Winners. Through this contest and our other K-12 initiatives, we hope to encourage young people to explore genetics and inspire the next generation of ASHG members and leaders.
Kanika Pulliam, PhD, Educational Programs Manager at ASHG, and Evelyn Mantegani, BA, Educational Programs Assistant, organized the DNA Day Essay Contest for high school students. Learn more about ASHG’s efforts in K-12 education.