Students from Bellevue’s Robinswood High School and their teachers got a close-up look at science Nov. 5 during a trip to some of the world’s leading research labs at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

The students, part of the Hutch High program, isolated and spooled DNA, learned the art of micropipetting and used a germ-revealing black light to test their skills at hand washing.

Hutch High also involves tours of working laboratories and lectures from Hutchinson Center scientists about sickle cell disease, cancer-causing bacteria, and how the immune systems function.

A total of 250 high schoolers from across the state attended the activity. Most are 10th graders who might not otherwise have the firsthand opportunity to see inside the world of biomedical science.

There was no cost to the schools; the program is made possible by Seattle philanthropist Althea Stroum and her late husband Samuel Stroum. They began supporting Hutch High in 1999, ensuring that thousands of teenagers would be exposed to the science that may influence their lives.