HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 07121994 - 1.39 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
FROM: Gayle Bishop, Supervisor District III
DATE: July 12, 1994
SUBJECT: Two San Ramon Students Help Make DNA Research History
SPECMC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
Recommendation
To honor two San Ramon California High School students, Yu-Fong Hong and Li Ho, who have discovered
which chromosomes three cancer-related genes belong to, which might help scientists around the world in
their search for a cure for cancer. Yu-Fong Hong and Li Ho are thought to be the two youngest researchers
working on the Human Genome Project, an international effort to map the 24 chromosomes and more than
70,000 genes that make up human life.
Background
California High School teacher, Bill Pence, became familiar with the thermocycler, devices used to copy
strands of DNA, during a session for teachers last summer, and talked with the manufacturer of
thermocyclers into donating one to his school eight months ago. The two students, Hong and Ho, were able
to participate in the Human Genome Project because of the donation of the thermocycler.
Yu-Fong Hong and Li Ho are preparing a paper for publication in a scientific journal of their discovery, and
from there, their discovery would go on the Internet to scientists around the world. Their remarkable
discovery took more than 80 hours work in a laboratory at California High School, copying the genes with
the thermocycler. After repeately doing the experiment, they determined they were successful. The three
genes regulate cell division which, when out of whack, can cause cancer.
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