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portraits

» AMARILLO ISD

AMA

RIL

ISD

THE PROFILE

OF A

GRADUATE

Russell Durrett

was a freshman in high

school when he discovered DNA. “I decided it was the
coolest thing ever,” says Russell, who 14 years later, is
somewhat of a genomic genius.

Of course, Russell, now 28, didn’t make the actual

discovery of DNA. That happened in 1953. But he did
discover it for himself in 9th grade biology. “We were
learning about a technique they use in a lab to copy DNA.
Literally, they hijack a protein and you can basically put
some other stuff in the mix and copy a speciﬁ c strand
of DNA. It’s just incredible,” says Russell. “It was the ﬁ rst
time I thought about DNA as a string. I think my destiny
was kind of set right there.”

If destiny is a predetermined course of events to which

a person is irresistibly drawn, then Russell and DNA are
the very deﬁ nition.

In the ten years since graduating from Tascosa High

School, Russell earned bachelor’s degrees in biochemistry
and anthropology, a master’s degree in biotechnology
and entrepreneurship and he is working on a doctorate in
cellular and molecular biology. His work with yeast and
E.coli earned him entries in the renowned international
student biology competition, iGem. The DIY biology
lab GenSpace, which Russell helped found, caught
the attention of the New York Times. Then there is the
genetic testing startup Recombine, where Russell served
as Chief Scientiﬁ c Ofﬁ cer.

The building blocks of Russell’s resume are rooted

in networking, ambition and, particularly, his ability to

Last spring, Amarillo ISD
Superintendent Dr. Dana West and
a team of AISD executive directors,
high school principals, school board
members and students worked with
a group of more than 60 community
members to determine not only
what skills are most needed in our
scholars, but how the community can
support graduates with a dynamic
workforce. The end result, the Proﬁ le
of a Graduate, calls for scholars
to be thinkers, communicators,
collaborators and contributors.