By JAX Genomic Education
Article | August 20, 2026
When educators have access to cutting-edge scientific knowledge, high-quality curriculum, and hands-on training, the benefits extend far beyond a single classroom. Over time, one teacher can introduce hundreds of young people to genetics and genomics, helping them explore questions about health and scientific discovery.
Teaching the Genome Generation™ (TtGG) invests in teachers by providing the training, laboratory experiences, curriculum, and ongoing support needed to bring modern genomics into the classroom. By empowering educators, JAX helps thousands of students engage with the science shaping the future of health, medicine, and discovery.
Video: Luke Madden
Bringing genomics to the classroom
Genomics is transforming how we understand health, disease, and the biology of life itself. From precision medicine to advances in biotechnology, genomic discoveries are increasingly shaping the future of healthcare. Yet for many students, genetics remains a brief unit in a biology course, disconnected from the scientific advances in our modern world.
Teaching the Genome Generation™ was created over a decade ago to help close that gap.
Through sustained professional development, the program equips educators to bring modern genomics into their classrooms in engaging and accessible ways. Rather than teaching genetics as a collection of isolated facts, educators help students explore authentic scientific questions, analyze data, and understand how genomics influences health, medicine, and society.
Investing in teachers
The impact of TtGG begins long before students step into a classroom. It begins with educators.
Each year, teachers dedicate valuable time to expanding their knowledge, learning new laboratory techniques, and exploring emerging discoveries in genetics and genomics through the professional development program. They work alongside JAX scientist-educators to deepen their understanding of the science while gaining practical tools they can bring into their classrooms.
The experience is intentionally hands-on. Teachers engage with the same kinds of questions, data, and investigative approaches they will later share with students. They leave not only with greater confidence in teaching genomics, but also with curriculum materials, laboratory activities, and a professional network that continues to support them long after the training ends.
When educators return to their schools, they become ambassadors for genomic literacy. They create learning environments where students can ask questions, evaluate evidence, and connect scientific concepts to real-world challenges. Many participants incorporate TtGG resources into their teaching year after year throughout their careers, extending the impact of a single professional development experience across generations of students.
Over the years, I've been to countless professional developments and this one—by far—is the best of my entire career because I got to bring it back and do it with my students immediately.
Joan Pierce, department head, Winslow High School
Inspiring student discovery
Not every student who participates in TtGG will pursue a career in science, and that's okay. The program's goal reaches far beyond building the future STEM workforce.
For some students, these experiences spark an interest in careers in science, healthcare, or biotechnology. For others, the lessons help them become informed patients, thoughtful voters, or lifelong learners. In every case, genomics education empowers students to participate more fully in a world where advances in genetics increasingly influence healthcare, public policy, and everyday life.
What starts with one teacher can expand to reach entire schools, districts, and communities.
Since TtGG began in 2014, 323 teachers have been trained. Collectively, they have brought genomics education to nearly 32,000 students. While many participants come from Maine and Connecticut, the program's educator network now spans 17 states, including every New England state.
Behind those numbers are thousands of students who have had the opportunity to explore genomics in their own classrooms.
Supporting the next generation
Every teacher trained through TtGG returns to the classroom with new knowledge, practical tools, and classroom-ready resources. Those lessons continue to reach new groups of students year after year, increasing access to genomics education far beyond the initial professional development experience.
Philanthropic investments help expand educator training, classroom resources, and a growing network of teachers committed to bringing modern genomics into their schools.
By supporting Teaching the Genome Generation, donors help more students explore genetics, ask meaningful questions, and better understand the science increasingly shaping health, medicine, and society.
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Genetics Learning Resources
Explore flexible lesson plans, hands-on labs, ethical case studies, virtual workshops and other classroom-ready resources designed to support engaging, modern science instruction.
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Teaching the Genome Generation™ Professional Development
Bring real-world genomics into your classroom to enhance student engagement in genetics, data analysis and personalized medicine.
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