Event Phone: 1-608-822-3276

🧬 Biotechnology in Action: Agar Art & DNA Extraction

BTC Institute | Madison, Wisconsin | High School Students

Spend a hands-on day exploring biotechnology through two engaging laboratory experiences!

🎨 Agar Art: Paint with Bacteria
Discover how genetic engineering and protein expression can create colorful bacterial artwork. Students will use sterile technique, agar plates, and bacterial cultures that produce different colored proteins to create their own unique designs. BTC Institute staff will photograph the finished bacterial art and send the images to participants after the bacteria have had time to grow.

🍓 DNA Extraction from Fruit
Investigate the invisible world of DNA through a hands-on extraction experiment. Students will explore the fundamentals of scientific inquiry and experimental design as they consider variables and controls and extract DNA from fruit—making the genetic material visible to the naked eye!

Students will explore:

• Genetic engineering & protein expression
• DNA and DNA extraction
• Scientific inquiry and experimental design
• Variables and controls
• Laboratory techniques and sterile technique
• Biotechnology applications in the real world