Under a microscope, some crab larvae look the same. But, thanks to a new grant, Bellevue College (BC) students and faculty are using nanopore technology to rapidly identify the unique DNA of multiple crab species this summer.
The project is one of three pilot projects funded by a Lockwood Foundation Grant from the Bellevue College Foundation, and it will eventually help faculty introduce the DNA technology to students in the life sciences and molecular biosciences programs at the Washington college this fall.
Each pilot project is designed around the use of nanopore technology, a DNA genome sequencing method that researchers use to identify organisms in an environmental sample. Nanopore technology is used in labs worldwide and has many diverse applications, including clinical diagnostics, which are done by identifying the type of bacteria causing an infection.
“The Lockwood Foundation grant will allow students to get firsthand experience with this technology,” said Stacy Alvares, an adjunct professor in Bellevue’s life sciences and molecular biosciences programs. “Ultimately, I hope students can explore what they’re passionate about.”
Using new technologies
Alvares is one of the faculty members conducting the pilot projects. She is joined by colleagues Jason Fuller and Reza Forough, who both teach biology courses at BC.
Back in January 2025, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory DNA Learning Center in New York awarded Alvares a MinION, a special sequencing device made by Oxford Nanopore Technologies. The device is roughly the size of a cell phone and makes nanopore technology possible. Its compact footprint lets researchers easily pack it along when doing fieldwork, and it can connect to a desktop computer for data processing.
But the technology isn’t just plug and play. Researchers must use specific protocols to prepare samples for sequencing. Faculty need time and training to master the platform before they can share their knowledge with students. They also need to purchase reagents — compounds and solutions that bind to certain substances in order to extract DNA from samples and prepare it for sequencing.
That’s where the Lockwood Foundation grant comes in.
“The grant gives us a way to obtain the reagents and pilot experiments with student volunteers before including them in a course,” Alvares explained. “We can also generate data sets that future students can analyze with common online tools.”
Collaborations and more
To get up to speed, Alvares, Fuller and Forough designed a set of experiments, focusing on serving students’ needs. Alvares collaborated with the MaST Center Aquarium, the marine biology and aquarium facility of Highline College in Des Moines, Washington. The aquarium collects crab larvae from the Puget Sound in order to survey the population.
By tallying the number of larvae in samples, Alvares can predict whether a population will grow or decline. Those forecasts may guide environmental management decisions. For example, if a species is declining, officials might restrict fishing licenses.
Alvares’ work with the MaST Aquarium could yield an extra benefit for her students. The aquarium’s co-science program lets volunteers collect or analyze data on various projects and is open to students looking for volunteer opportunities in their field. Nearly 20 students have signed up.
Fuller’s pilot project involves using the technology to confirm which species of insects are present in certain habitats. Data that students collect could contribute to local biodiversity databases. And Forough’s pilot project centers on the biomedical application of nanopore technology. His students will examine microbial communities found in earwax.
Next fall, the professors plan to debut the technology in their courses. The curricula will be offered to students in molecular biosciences, biology and health sciences courses. Alvares anticipates it to reach as many as 350 students in the first year.
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Marilyn Reed is a freelancer for Bellevue College in Washington.
Raechel Dawson is the college’s associate director of communications.