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Huang A, Nguyen PQ, Stark JC, Takahashi MK, Donghia N, Ferrante T, Dy AJ, Hsu KJ, Dubner RS, Pardee K, Jewett MC, Collins JJ. BioBits™ Explorer: A modular synthetic biology education kit. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2018; 4:eaat5105. [PMID: 30083608 PMCID: PMC6070312 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aat5105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2018] [Accepted: 07/04/2018] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Hands-on demonstrations greatly enhance the teaching of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) concepts and foster engagement and exploration in the sciences. While numerous chemistry and physics classroom demonstrations exist, few biology demonstrations are practical and accessible due to the challenges and concerns of growing living cells in classrooms. We introduce BioBits™ Explorer, a synthetic biology educational kit based on shelf-stable, freeze-dried, cell-free (FD-CF) reactions, which are activated by simply adding water. The FD-CF reactions engage the senses of sight, smell, and touch with outputs that produce fluorescence, fragrances, and hydrogels, respectively. We introduce components that can teach tunable protein expression, enzymatic reactions, biomaterial formation, and biosensors using RNA switches, some of which represent original FD-CF outputs that expand the toolbox of cell-free synthetic biology. The BioBits™ Explorer kit enables hands-on demonstrations of cutting-edge science that are inexpensive and easy to use, circumventing many current barriers for implementing exploratory biology experiments in classrooms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ally Huang
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Peter Q. Nguyen
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Jessica C. Stark
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Center for Synthetic Biology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | | | - Nina Donghia
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Tom Ferrante
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Aaron J. Dy
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Synthetic Biology Center, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Karen J. Hsu
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Rachel S. Dubner
- Department of Biological Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
| | - Keith Pardee
- Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3M2, Canada
| | - Michael C. Jewett
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Chemistry of Life Processes Institute, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Center for Synthetic Biology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University, 676 North Saint Clair Street, Suite 1200, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
- Simpson Querrey Institute, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
| | - James J. Collins
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Synthetic Biology Center, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
- Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
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