The Wellcome Trust-supported Authentic Biology Project brings schools and universities together to help school students learn about cutting-edge progressions made in biological research. As part of the project, the University of Bristol works closely with Cotham School, allowing students in Year 12 and Year 13 to contribute to the academic studies of a ‘real’ scientist.Authentic Biology was first conceived 5 years ago by Dr David Colthurst, a Science Teacher in Kent. The aims were to bridge the gap between science in schools and universities; to give a realistic experience of research science in order to motivate students and also to increase the number of University science applicants. In 2012, Professors Paul Martin and Catherine Nobes from the Faculty of Medical and Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, together with Cotham School were invited to join the project. Professor Martin’s and Dr Chrissy Hammond’s research groups use Zebrafish to look at cancer, heart disease and osteoarthritis. These researchers along with a newly-appointed teacher at Cotham School, Beca Lansdowne, work in collaboration with experts from the School of Social and Community Medicine at Bristol, to identify novel human disease genes. With over 30 students committed to Authentic Biology at Cotham, the project has increased in size and scope. Students have engaged in practical sessions, workshops, symposia and lectures, as well as worked together to keep and maintain their own Zebrafish in a specially developed aquatic tank. Sessions cover how Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) can aid finding new human disease genes, as well as how ZFIN software can be used to find the Zebrafish orthologues. Using this information, the students can observe the developing Zebrafish embryo and larval stages to look at the potential ‘disease gene’ expression patterns. The importance of fish husbandry skills is also highlighted, in order to optimise regular egg production to keep the project moving forward.As well as considering how new therapeutics are researched and developed, students have also presented at the Authentic Biology Symposium, held at the Wellcome Trust headquarters in London and at a Zebrafish symposium held at the Watershed, Bristol.The project is documented both through the Wellcome Trust and the University of Bristol’s outreach pages, as well as through the content on Facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/Cotham-Biology/182603948594622) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/CothamBio), developed by Cotham students.