For a week in July, 19 middle school students from Durham, North Carolina; Rochester, New York; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Cincinnati, Ohio, gathered at Duke University to participate in the HHMI-sponsored FARM (Finding and Researching Mycobacteriophages) program.

The students, most from disadvantaged background or underrepresented minority groups, filled their days with scientific—and not so scientific—activities. They donned 3-D glasses to “dive” into a DNA molecule in a virtual reality chamber, and later dived into a real swimming pool. They isolated DNA from strawberries, and got to wear the encapsulated goo on a string necklace. And, in the ultimate quest, they isolated bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) from soil samples brought from home. The students agreed they learned a lot about science, including that it can be both exciting and frustrating—“I still can't find my bacteriophage,” lamented one persistent student— while also learning a lot about each other.

Photos: Chris Hildreth