Features
Leading the sciences at St. Mark’s as Stephen M.
After poring through scientific literature and
Seay ’68 Science Department Chair, Fletch Carron
journals, the team decided to research lung cancer
has great respect for the School’s long history of
and the possibility of creating a biosensor for the
scientific education. “Ever since the construction
disease. Meeting almost daily over the summer of
of the McDermott-Green Quadgrangle, St. Mark’s
2013, Halbert and the 14 other iGEM Team members
served as a beacon for students interested in the
designed gene circuits and refined their experiment
sciences and an incubator for their passions.”
methods for implementation. At the end of the
In the same year that the United States first put a
around the world and, out of the 11 special prizes
man in space, St. Mark’s cemented its dedication to
available, they received the Safety Commendation
the sciences with the opening of the McDermott-
Award—an impressive feat for a first-time team.
(below) Ken Owens ’89 leads an explosive demonstration.
season, they competed against 55 other teams from
Green Science & Mathematics Quadrangle. Built in 1961 with support from the founders of Texas
But the team wasn’t satisfied with simply competing.
Instruments, the building elevated St. Mark’s to the
After all, Marksmen are taught that with knowledge
national stage and led TIME magazine to declare
and privilege comes a responsibility to serve. During
that the School was the “best-equipped day school
their intensive summer of research, the iGEM
in the country.” More than half a century later,
Team partnered with the Brendan Court Summer
scientific curiosity continues to flourish.
Enrichment Program and Jubilee Center to teach local students about the consequences of smoking
In true Marksman fashion, learning doesn’t stop
as related to their lung cancer research, while also
when the school day ends. It’s not unusual to walk
introducing basic concepts of genetic engineering.
through the Science Quadrangle long after the campus has emptied to find both students and teachers hard at work. Halbert was one of those students, attending biology club meetings after school. In the spring of his junior year, Halbert
“I hope that the St. Mark’s science teams will focus not only on solving the larger problems,” Halbert said, “but also strive to make positive contributions in the here and now.”
decided to expand the club beyond a simple interest group. With input from biology teacher Mark Adame, Halbert formed the St. Mark’s iGEM Team. Through participation in the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition, the iGEM Team turned a group of students into full-fledged researchers. As Halbert explains, “We had already done most of the basic biotechnology techniques in club meetings, so we thought that iGEM was a wonderful way to put our knowledge into action.”
St. Mark’s School of Texas
Spring 2015 | Features
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