SF BASE
San Francisco Biotechnology Alliance for Science Education
http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/programs/sf_base/
Partnership Coordinator
George Cachianes
gcachianes --at-- hotmail.com
San Francisco Biotechnology Alliance for Science Education (SF-Base) is a collaborative partnership involving San Francisco Unified School District, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco State University and City College of San Francisco. Our industrial collaborators include the Genentech Foundation for Biomedical Research, Toyota America, BioRad Inc., New England Biologicals and Applied Scientific Corp. SF-Base has fostered these associations since its inception in 1991.
The goal of SF-Base is to have all SFUSD high school biology teachers include an investigative experience in biotechnology for all their students. The curriculum consists of a series of laboratory experiments in molecular genetics during which students learn how to pose questions and seek answers using tools of modern molecular biology. In 1997-98, approximately 4,800 students in 14 schools utilized the 9 kits of equipment and materials to explore the basics of DNA Science. The use of SF-Base kit materials in the classroom requires support for teachers in molecular genetics and biotechnology content areas.
GenEdX, the biotechnology class at Lincoln High School, generates plasmids for use by SF-Base and other BABEC partnerships in a variety of biotechnology lab-based curricula.