BioBits Health: Classroom Activities Exploring Engineering, Biology, and Human Health with Fluorescent Readouts

TLDR

Recent advances in synthetic biology promise to reshape disease understanding and treatment, yet hands‑on educational activities are hampered by costly equipment and expertise. The authors aim to educate students on the biology and ethics of synthetic biology, empowering future policy makers and inspiring new scientists, by presenting BioBits Health, a kit with lab activities and curricula for teaching antibiotic resistance and CRISPR‑Cas9 in high‑school classrooms. BioBits Health delivers these concepts through freeze‑dried cell‑free reactions that produce visual fluorescent readouts. BioBits Health promises to promote teaching of cutting‑edge, health‑related synthetic biology topics in classrooms and other non‑laboratory settings.

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.