SAN DIEGO -- Freshman biology majors at the University of California, San Diego and 11 other universities will take part in a gene research program that could change the way future scientists are educated, it was announced Wednesday.

Under a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the school's Division of Biological Sciences will offer the first nationwide class in genomics, the study of hereditary and DNA.

"All of us agree that undergraduates can and should participate early on in authentic research," said Gabriele Wienhausen, the division's associate dean for education. "The scientific method and scientific way of thinking needs to be taught through hands-on experiences."

Traditional research training, involving a professor and only a couple students, does not work at big research universities, Wienhausen said. UCSD has 4,750 students majoring in biology. Students from the 11 other participating universities will also be eligible for the course.

"The students will isolate bacterial viruses from local soil, prepare virus DNA for sequencing and annotate and compare the sequenced genome," Wienhausen said.

At the conclusion of the course, students will present their findings at the Institute in Northern Virginia, she said.