Hannah Collins was amazed to learn that,” 99 percent of our DNA is the same as everybody else’s. It’s only one percent that makes us unique.”

Inputting data from their lab experiments at Southwestern Community College’s CSI: West Summer Science Day Camp, from left, Molly Nardello, a Smoky Mountain High School student, and Hannah Collins and Emily Odiear, both SMHS graduates, note that 99 percent of everyone’s DNA is the same; only one percent makes an individual unique.

Fellow participant Molly Nardello, attending the two-week camp on the Jackson Campus, added that, “DNA inside of one cell is six-feet long.”

“We try to wow them with the unusual and broaden their horizons in scientific knowledge,” said Dale Hall, camp director and SCC medical laboratory technology instructor.

In one simulated crime scene area students dug up bones to calculate the victim’s height, sex, age and DNA.

“There is a link between the length of certain bones and the height of an individual,” said Hall, stressing that students wear their safety glasses and protective gloves. “It’s consistent enough to allow a person’s height to be inferred from just a few bones.”

Nicolas Squirrel, left, of Cherokee, and Maddy Brown, right, of Franklin, compare molecules during a DNA session of Southwestern Community College’s CSI:West Summer Science Day Camp. DNA inside of one cell can be six-feet long, the two learned.

Some crimes involving violent acts lead to forcibly removed hair, the students discovered. “Hair is not a living tissue but it can move,” Collins found out. Contractions of the tissue around the hair follicle can literally “make your hair stand up.” Like bones, hair analysis can reveal DNA, students learned as they examined human scalp hairs and compared them to animal hairs.

“We have pretty sophisticated equipment in our lab and for many students this camp is their first hands-on actual engagement in crime scene scenarios,” said Hall.

As she used different solutions to break down ink dots to determine what type of pen was used at a crime scene, Grace Bird of Cherokee High School said she appreciated the personalized attention of camp instructors.

“One of the most useful tools a scientist has is the ability to reason,” said Hall. “I may not understand why these young people dress like they do or the music the listen to, but their eagerness to learn reaffirms my confidence in them.”

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