Executives and scientists from biotechnology corporations and agencies throughout Montgomery County have been invited to an open house at Thomas S. Wootton High School on Tuesday, April 16, at 8:30 a.m. to learn more about the biotechnology program at Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS).

Among the guests will be officials from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National Institutes of Health. Both institutions have provided major assistance to the school system’s science programs. Guests will have an opportunity to visit biotechnology, molecular biology, and Advanced Placement biology classes. Students will demonstrate scientific procedures such as extraction of DNA and environmental science transformations.

The open house also will showcase the DNA Resource Center housed at Wootton that is available to middle and high school students throughout MCPS. Highlights of the Center’s offerings are student internships, a Gene Camp for middle school students, field trips and seminars, high level biotechnology courses, professional development for teachers, and access to technical equipment.

The Center has an advisory board composed of business leaders, educators, and parents. The Nucleic Council, a group of MCPS science teachers trained in biotechnology, develops multi-disciplinary curriculum programs to integrate DNA technology into mathematics, computer science, the social sciences, and the humanities.