Nearly 6,000 essays were written for this year’s contest, and ASHG received entries from teachers in 43 U.S. states, as well as from Bangladesh, Canada, China, Greece, India, Italy, Lithuania, and Turkey. The topic of gene regulation engaged students in a crucial genetics topic and yielded many insightful and well-written essays. Over 300 expert geneticists from the ASHG membership participated in judging the essays. We thank them for their help.

 

Congratulations to the 2012 winners and thank you all for participating.  Happy DNA Day!

 

 

2012 Essay Question:

Genes exert their influence on organisms by being turned on and off in precise ways and at precise times. Disease can result when problems arise during this process of “gene regulation.” The first processes of gene regulation to be discovered involved molecular ‘switches’ that regulate transcription at gene promoters. In the last 20 years, genomic research has uncovered many new types of gene regulation that earlier researchers would have never imagined. Genes can be regulated by repressors, activators, enhancers, epigenetic changes to chromatin, RNA interference, the environment, and other processes. Choose one of the gene regulation processes listed above and, using references to support your argument, explain why/how that regulatory process is critically important to ONE of the following:

• early development

• normal cell function

• causation of disease or cell malfunction

 

 

2012 Contest Winners:

Click names below to view essay excerpts.

 

Nathan Swetlitz   Grade 11 ($1,000)   Teacher: Robert Taylor   Chicagoland Jewish High School, Deerfield, IL   Press Release	Kevin Zhang   Grade 12 ($600)   Teacher: Maria Simon Hatboro-Horsham High School, Horsham, PA   Press Release	Girish Chandrasekar   Grade 10 ($400)   Teacher: Nicholas DiGiovanni   Naperville Central High School, Naperville, IL   Press Release
Vivienne Chen Montgomery Blair High School, MD Teacher: Angelique Bosse     Kristen Datta St. Paul Academy and Summit School, MN Teacher: Tina Barsky     Gabrielle Ewall Cold Spring Harbor High School, NY Teacher: Jaak Raudsepp	Emily Kragel Junius H. Rose High School, NC Teacher: Jedediah Smith     Jason Lam Stuyvesant High School, NY Teacher: Maria Nedwidek     Lindsay Leigler Tesoro High School, CA Teacher: Megan Gray     Lucy Li St. Paul Academy and Summit School, MN Teacher: Tina Barsky	Brian Lue The John Cooper School, TX Teacher: Holly Barlaam     Tejas Sundaresan North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, NC Teacher: Myra Halpin     Monica Woolley Punahou School, HI Teacher: Marguerite Ashford