Approximately 26 students 8.-10. classes from Hyderabad, Peddapalli and Hanamkonda had the opportunity to spend a week observing scientists at work in the laboratories of CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, under the flagship program for high school students – Young Innovators Program 23, from December to January.
“Each year we select 25-30 high school students through a competitive exam and allow them to spend time in our labs to see how various research tools are used. But this year they were actually taught and asked to clone a gene under the supervision of our PhD students,” said program coordinator Aditya Undru.
“These are the kinds of experiments that most students don’t even get to do in post-graduate studies. Otherwise, students only study them in theory and don’t have much opportunity to experience it practically,” pointed out Vasudha Ramireddy, a biology teacher at St Andrews High School – Suchitra, Bowenpally, Secunderabad.
It’s a chance for scientists to show that younger people can now start thinking about and doing molecular biology experiments if they have the right guidance and resources. In today’s world, where biotech is all around us, it’s about time more and more people really started to understand how these tools work, said Somdatta Karak, CCMB’s head of science communication and public outreach.
“We want to start organizing similar workshops for teachers and journalists in an effort to create a more biotechnology-aware society,” she added. The program was supported by the ‘Jigyasa’ program of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, said a press release on Saturday.
Published – 03 Jan 2026 20:10 IST
