AI Article Synopsis
- Recent advancements in synthetic biology are changing how we understand and treat diseases, making education about these topics essential for future decision-makers.
- Hands-on learning in synthetic biology can be challenging due to the need for costly equipment and expertise to grow living cells.
- The BioBits Health educational kit offers lab activities and curricula to teach high school students about antibiotic resistance and CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing through easy-to-use freeze-dried, cell-free reactions with visual outputs.
Article Abstract
Recent advances in synthetic biology have resulted in biological technologies with the potential to reshape the way we understand and treat human disease. Educating students about the biology and ethics underpinning these technologies is critical to empower them to make informed future policy decisions regarding their use and to inspire the next generation of synthetic biologists. However, hands-on, educational activities that convey emerging synthetic biology topics can be difficult to implement due to the expensive equipment and expertise required to grow living cells. We present BioBits Health, an educational kit containing lab activities and supporting curricula for teaching antibiotic resistance mechanisms and CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in high school classrooms. This kit links complex biological concepts to visual, fluorescent readouts in user-friendly freeze-dried cell-free reactions. BioBits Health represents a set of educational resources that promises to encourage teaching of cutting-edge, health-related synthetic biology topics in classrooms and other nonlaboratory settings.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.8b00381 | DOI Listing |
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