Fulton genetics class sees science in action during trip to capital

November 4, 2011 at 8:12 a.m. | Updated November 4, 2011 at 8:12 a.m.

Fulton High School student Brian McCarty, 16, practices testing for sickle cell disease using red food coloring while (back) Carlene Campbell, newborn screening supervisor, explains how laboratory scientists go through the real process.
Fulton High School student Brian McCarty, 16, practices testing for sickle cell disease using red food coloring while (back) Carlene Campbell, newborn screening supervisor, explains how laboratory scientists go through the real process.

JEFFERSON CITY - Donning lab coats and medical gloves, seven Fulton High School students took turns testing newborn "blood" for sickle-cell disease.

photo

Nathan Beckoned

Special to the Democrat-Gazette

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The "blood" was only red food coloring, but the experience showed the 11th grade genetics class how the scientists at the Missouri State Public Health Laboratory test babies' blood. The high-schoolers took a field trip Thursday to the lab and then to the Missouri State Highway Patrol headquarters to learn firsthand how the field of genetics impacts today's world.

Last year's FHS genetics class was the first group of students in the state to tour the newborn screening facility at the MSPH lab. Carol Robertson, FHS genetics and biology instructor, decided to take her class again this year to show students the opportunities available in the genetics field.

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.