MATTER Magazine Spotlight: BIO 999: Understanding the Genetic Basis Of Cancer

By SHAWNA JIANG ‘26, KATIE HU ‘26, ADELE MAMMEDOVA ‘25, LUCIA ROSEN ‘26, MARVIN SHIM ‘27, MEG XU ‘26

      Field courses, also known as “999” courses, are a unique part of the Exeter academic experience. Students can talk to a teacher in any subject and propose a course idea that studies a niche topic in a specific field. In the 2023-24 school year, several students took a BIO999 course: “Understanding the Genetic Basis of Cancer.”

      Most students taking 999 courses look for interesting courses that differ from regular classes at Exeter. Field studies offer students the ability to explore a subject beyond the traditional high school curriculum. For example, BIO999 specialized in cancer genetics.

      Seniors Charles Potjer, Valentina Zhang, and Sylvia Langer worked with Instructor in Science Summer Morrill to design the field course. Morrill took the general idea of cancer biology and refined it to a manageable set of topics for a trimester: “Through a series of conversations and thinking about the stuff I found most exciting, I decided to make a more focused version of that, which was the genetic basis of cancer,” Morrill said.

      Langer described, “When we were having our initial meetings with Dr. Morrill about what we were thinking the course would be about, we obviously wanted to talk about the genetic basis of cancer, but we also wanted to include a more personal component. One of us brought in The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee. I think we also wanted to talk about the idea of healthcare funding and insurance and hospitals, which is something that is not really talked about in biology courses.”

      Similarly, Zhang described, “We all really like genetics and we wanted to delve more into that and specifically study something that would involve genetics and build off of our knowledge from BIO486 [Introductory Genetics] and BIO586 [Molecular Genetics], and further learn about something in biology because we were also really interested in biology.”

      The students who created the course also commented on the relevance of cancer in today’s world and how to confront the questions that currently perplex biologists around the world. Specifically, Potjer shared how cancer is “one of the most complex questions that biologists are currently facing.”

      On top of learning about a pertinent issue in today’s society, BIO999 also offered students the opportunity to dive deeper into genetics. “When you think critically about cancer and how it works, you gain a lot of new insights about how the cell works and about molecular genetics,” Potjer continued.

      “Oftentimes in the course, we ran into questions that couldn’t be answered because biologists don’t understand it yet. And I think that was really exciting,” Potjer added. “We were really brought to the forefront of the field. We learned a lot about a lot of new technologies that are helping to fight cancer in really innovative and complicated ways, and I thought that was really exciting and relevant.”

      Altogether, BIO999 was created to provide students with a strong first step towards learning about cancer and the different approaches for oncological treatment.

      In terms of the course curriculum, BIO999 encompassed the mechanisms behind genetics in the molecular study of cancer. The class started off talking about cell cycles and what happens when it goes wrong. From there, the discussions moved to mutations, tumor suppressors, genomics, and targeted therapies. Also using Robert Weinber’s The Biology of Cancer as a guide, students covered topics from the mechanisms of immunotherapy to the inner workings of the cell cycle in cancer.

      This course entered the frontiers of genetics and cancer research; as a result, many of the course material materials were still in development or unanswered by the entire scientific community. “It was a very forward-facing class,” Potjer reflected, “which means that it was a lot more about questions than it was about answers.”

      Senior Jenna Wang added, “That led us to interesting discussions where we could ask questions and not necessarily know the answers. We would still hypothesize and I think Dr. Morrill really led us around these questions. She was definitely great at guiding us to a student-led understanding. It wasn’t necessarily different from the other way she teaches her courses, but she was able to foster a collaborative environment.”

      Likewise, Zhang expanded upon Wang and Potjer, describing, “This is not necessarily unique within the genetics department, but Dr. Morrill’s teaching style incorporates a lot of multimedia in the assignments and materials we looked at. We read papers, we did labs, we had tests, but we also had individual projects we made, like brochures and posters.

      “For a lot of our homework assignments,” Zhang continued, “We rotated from reading a textbook to a book to watching a video then to working with an interactive website. It helped us understand how many different aspects there are to cancer and the many different ways there are to approach it. Dr. Morrill created it in such a way that it brought together a lot of different concepts we had studied throughout the term.”

      Students continued to describe their experiences with the course itself. “We ran into a lot of unexpected or seeming paradoxes or contradictions about cancer,” Potjer reflected. “I think something else that’s nice is that introductory and advanced biology sequences at Exeter cover a really broad scope of topics, and this one was much more pointed and in-depth and I think it highlighted or emphasized the importance of critical thinking in the cell.”

      Wang detailed this specificity, sharing how multiple units centered around the concept of cancer as a genetic disease. Specifically, she described how students explored both exogenous and endogenous factors that contribute to the risk of cancer.

      “We were studyin¸g why cancer happens, the genetics of cancer, how cancer is passed down genetically, all that sort of thing,” Zhang agreed.

      Zhang then continued to detail the two major aspects of BIO999. “One is the actual genetics, molecular part of cancer. The other part is the impact it has on people, the story behind cancer, the more like healthcare focus aspect,” Zhang said.

      Wang added, “We also read a book called The Emperor of All Maladies. It was basically describing the history of cancer as the disease which has been around mankind for the longest time.” She reflected that the whole course is centered around the idea of the long history behind the fight against cancer.

      Gao described learning about the stages of cancer in regard to how it develops, when it becomes malignant, when it becomes metastatic, and what metastatic means.

      Gao continued, “Cancerous signaling pathways is another large portion of the course, like EGFR [epidermal growth factor receptor], and how that connects to the generation of cancer genetically, as well as other factors such as UV radiation. We learned about different factors of cancer, so it definitely gave us more knowledge of how it’s created, how it’s generated over time, and how one can get cancer genetically.”

      Reflecting upon the course, Morril shared her favorite parts of the term, which included a panel where students got the opportunity to ask professionals questions about cancer biology. Morrill shared, “It was really fun getting to have the students ask questions and see what professionals in the field are thinking about day to day.”

      Morrill then noted a memorable interaction with a panelist from Boston Children’s Hospital. “She actually reached back out to me and said, Hey, I want you to know this was an amazing question. There’s a researcher who’s currently asking that same question in his lab.”

      Morrill continued to share that moments like these were what made this course one of her favorites. “It helps us to see how much is unknown within biology and what we do when we encounter something unknown.”

      Individual students also shared personal insights that they gathered from this course. Many of the students’ takeaways included how their experiences in BIO999 could help them and other students in the future, especially in regard to preparation for higher education in fields such as cancer research. For example, senior Amrita Sankrit shared how the course provides a “bird’s eye view look at this topic.  So just taking that knowledge, building that foundation, and then going deeper into it in my future life is something that I definitely look forward to.”

      Similarly, upper Ethan Liu agreed, explaining that if students “end up interning at a lab, this kind of knowledge [in BIO999] is great to apply and is a great intro.”

      In addition to their future careers as individuals, students discussed the course’s relevance to the real world. Liu highlighted, “Cancer is such a prevalent disease… and as the world’s aging, cancer is going to affect more and more people… Also, so many people are interested in cancer and genetics.”

      Students agreed that the course’s content is pertinent to current circumstances in the world, in which there is an ongoing increase in cancer’s impact on our populations as well as a growing number of prospective students interested in reducing this impact.

      Langer elaborated upon the nature of the course, describing, “We always are coming upon [and] learning about things that research and scientists don’t know. We’re always asking questions that we might not know the answer to.” Langer contrasted this aspect to regular advanced biology courses, in which the course content consists primarily of major theories that are all already known.

      Similarly to Morrill, Potjer also enjoyed the panel experience. Potjer described, “[The panelists] gave three really diverse perspectives about the field of cancer and cancer research, and about the balance between understanding cancer in the clinic and understanding it in the lab. It was really exciting to talk to them and see what potential careers might look like in that field.”

      Other students particularly enjoyed a problem set that led them through the entire process of certain genes at play, how protein shapes influence cancer, and various treatments. Kenza Madhi ‘24 described the worksheet: “It was eight pages, and we went through the diagnostic process of a patient’s cancer. We learned about symptoms and what treatments were used at first, and then why they weren’t working. We looked at different test results so we could imagine genetic sequencing. By the end, we could figure out where the mutation occurred and how that led to a certain type of cancer.”

      Zhang particularly enjoyed the collaborative aspect of the assignment: “Dr. Morrill created this problem set herself, and she created it in such a way that brought together a lot of different concepts we had studied throughout the term. I think putting everything together, especially with such a broad topic of cancer that has so many components, was a really cool assignment.”

      “The idea was that we all understood the problems and could explain them well to each other,” Wang agreed. “It’s definitely a great way that Dr. Morrill fosters collaboration and teamwork in problem-solving and in understanding these issues. That’s definitely important, especially as we see that people making advancements and making discoveries [in cancer research] are working together and collaboratively.”

      Generally, 999 courses are experimental and might not continue in the course curriculum in future years. Nevertheless, most BIO999 students recommended this course for future students. Zhang shared, “I think you don’t necessarily have to be particularly interested in cancer from the get-go to take the course because it’s such a good experience. If you’re just interested in biology in general because it takes you through all the different concepts of biology itself that aren’t necessarily related to cancer like politics, our society, and different types of people.”

      Sankrit emphasized, “I would definitely say take this course if you have a passion for this topic…because I think a lot of the knowledge that I gained from what we studied will definitely be applied in my future, whether that be in college or beyond.”

      Furthermore, Liu suggested to future students of the course: “Definitely be on top of your stuff. Some concepts can be difficult to grasp at times, but everyone’s also struggling with you, so it’s a very interesting feeling. As long as you’re engaged, there’s a lot to take away, and just the experience of learning something tough is great.”

      Wang expressed a similar attitude. “If you’re interested in biology, interested in medicine, if you’re interested in becoming a researcher, or if you’re interested in the healthcare system, this is a really great course to introduce you to how one disease, cancer specifically, can interact with all those different spheres. I think it’s really fun and it’s definitely a unique experience to learn about a disease and how we’re dealing with it in the current world right now,” she concluded.