with their parents and members of the community--to scientific thought processes and methods through experiments with catchy names, such as "The Mystery of the Crooked Cell" (sickle cell anemia), and "Who Stole the Crown Jewels?" (DNA fingerprinting). The bus can handle 24 students at a time at 12 laptop-equipped workstations. The equipment is similar to that in a well-equipped college biology lab. It is staffed with two instructors, both scientists; visiting scientists and science technicians from local pharmaceutical or biotechnology firms or universities will be on board to serve as role models and discuss employment opportunities in the biosciences. The bus was funded by the state, Connecticut pharmaceutical firms, local biotech firms, local universities, and other institutions. "When you look at the extent of 27 financial supporters making a five-year commitment to this effort, there's no other initiative like this in the country--the public and private sector [getting together] to ...
News Notes
Connecticut will introduce elementary, middle, and high school students to a state-of-the-art molecular biology learning experience aboard a specially outfitted bus (M. E. Watanabe, "Filling the pipeline: training people to work in bioscience gets new emphasis," The Scientist, 14[10]:1, May 15, 2000). On Sept. 5, Connecticut United for Research Excellence Inc. (CURE), the not-for-profit membership organization promoting bioscience in the state, unveiled Connecticut's BioBus. The bus will travel
