BioBits™ Bright: A fluorescent synthetic biology education kit
Abstract
Synthetic biology offers opportunities for experiential educational activities at the intersection of the life sciences, engineering, and design. However, implementation of hands-on biology activities in classrooms is challenging because of the need for specialized equipment and expertise to grow living cells. We present BioBits™ Bright, a shelf-stable, just-add-water synthetic biology education kit with easy visual outputs enabled by expression of fluorescent proteins in freeze-dried, cell-free reactions. We introduce activities and supporting curricula for teaching the central dogma, tunable protein expression, and design-build-test cycles and report data generated by K-12 teachers and students. We also develop inexpensive incubators and imagers, resulting in a comprehensive kit costing
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- Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)
- Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); Harvard Univ., Boston, MA (United States)
- Harvard Univ., Boston, MA (United States); Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)
- Harvard Univ., Boston, MA (United States)
- Glenbard East High School, Lombard, IL (United States)
- Amos Alonzo Stagg High School, Palos Hills, IL (United States)
- Grover Cleveland Elementary School, Chicago, IL (United States)
- Evanston Township High School, Evanston, IL (United States)
- Glenbrook South High School, Glenview, IL (United States)
- Jones College Prep High School, Chicago, IL (United States)
- Gwendolyn Brooks College Preparatory Academy, Chicago, IL (United States)
- Delta High School, Muncie, IN (United States)
- ASPIRA Business and Finance High School, 2989 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL (United States)
- Aptakisic-Tripp School District 102, Buffalo Grove, IL (United States)
- Oak Lawn Hometown Middle School, IL (United States)
- Hoffman Estates High School, Hoffman Estates, IL (United States)
- Vernon Hills High School, Vernon Hills, IL (United States)
- Morgan Park High School, Chicago, IL (United States)
- Northside College Prep High School, Chicago, IL (United States)
- Aqsa School, Bridgeview, IL (United States)
- Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, IL (United States)
- Lyons Township High School, La Grange, IL (United States)
- Univ. of Toronto, ON (Canada)
- Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); Harvard Univ., Boston, MA (United States); Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA (United States); Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA (United States)
- Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States); Northwestern University, Chicago, IL (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1499914
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0018249
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Science Advances
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 4; Journal Issue: 8; Journal ID: ISSN 2375-2548
- Publisher:
- AAAS
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Citation Formats
Stark, Jessica C., Huang, Ally, Nguyen, Peter Q., Dubner, Rachel S., Hsu, Karen J., Ferrante, Thomas C., Anderson, Mary, Kanapskyte, Ada, Mucha, Quinn, Packett, Jessica S., Patel, Palak, Patel, Richa, Qaq, Deema, Zondor, Tyler, Burke, Julie, Martinez, Thomas, Miller-Berry, Ashlee, Puppala, Aparna, Reichert, Kara, Schmid, Miriam, Brand, Lance, Hill, Lander R., Chellaswamy, Jemima F., Faheem, Nuhie, Fetherling, Suzanne, Gong, Elissa, Gonzalzles, Eddie Marie, Granito, Teresa, Koritsaris, Jenna, Nguyen, Binh, Ottman, Sujud, Palffy, Christina, Patel, Angela, Skweres, Sheila, Slaton, Adriane, Woods, TaRhonda, Donghia, Nina, Pardee, Keith, Collins, James J., and Jewett, Michael C. BioBits™ Bright: A fluorescent synthetic biology education kit. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aat5107.
Stark, Jessica C., Huang, Ally, Nguyen, Peter Q., Dubner, Rachel S., Hsu, Karen J., Ferrante, Thomas C., Anderson, Mary, Kanapskyte, Ada, Mucha, Quinn, Packett, Jessica S., Patel, Palak, Patel, Richa, Qaq, Deema, Zondor, Tyler, Burke, Julie, Martinez, Thomas, Miller-Berry, Ashlee, Puppala, Aparna, Reichert, Kara, Schmid, Miriam, Brand, Lance, Hill, Lander R., Chellaswamy, Jemima F., Faheem, Nuhie, Fetherling, Suzanne, Gong, Elissa, Gonzalzles, Eddie Marie, Granito, Teresa, Koritsaris, Jenna, Nguyen, Binh, Ottman, Sujud, Palffy, Christina, Patel, Angela, Skweres, Sheila, Slaton, Adriane, Woods, TaRhonda, Donghia, Nina, Pardee, Keith, Collins, James J., & Jewett, Michael C. BioBits™ Bright: A fluorescent synthetic biology education kit. United States. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aat5107
Stark, Jessica C., Huang, Ally, Nguyen, Peter Q., Dubner, Rachel S., Hsu, Karen J., Ferrante, Thomas C., Anderson, Mary, Kanapskyte, Ada, Mucha, Quinn, Packett, Jessica S., Patel, Palak, Patel, Richa, Qaq, Deema, Zondor, Tyler, Burke, Julie, Martinez, Thomas, Miller-Berry, Ashlee, Puppala, Aparna, Reichert, Kara, Schmid, Miriam, Brand, Lance, Hill, Lander R., Chellaswamy, Jemima F., Faheem, Nuhie, Fetherling, Suzanne, Gong, Elissa, Gonzalzles, Eddie Marie, Granito, Teresa, Koritsaris, Jenna, Nguyen, Binh, Ottman, Sujud, Palffy, Christina, Patel, Angela, Skweres, Sheila, Slaton, Adriane, Woods, TaRhonda, Donghia, Nina, Pardee, Keith, Collins, James J., and Jewett, Michael C. Wed .
"BioBits™ Bright: A fluorescent synthetic biology education kit". United States. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aat5107. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1499914.
@article{osti_1499914,
title = {BioBits™ Bright: A fluorescent synthetic biology education kit},
author = {Stark, Jessica C. and Huang, Ally and Nguyen, Peter Q. and Dubner, Rachel S. and Hsu, Karen J. and Ferrante, Thomas C. and Anderson, Mary and Kanapskyte, Ada and Mucha, Quinn and Packett, Jessica S. and Patel, Palak and Patel, Richa and Qaq, Deema and Zondor, Tyler and Burke, Julie and Martinez, Thomas and Miller-Berry, Ashlee and Puppala, Aparna and Reichert, Kara and Schmid, Miriam and Brand, Lance and Hill, Lander R. and Chellaswamy, Jemima F. and Faheem, Nuhie and Fetherling, Suzanne and Gong, Elissa and Gonzalzles, Eddie Marie and Granito, Teresa and Koritsaris, Jenna and Nguyen, Binh and Ottman, Sujud and Palffy, Christina and Patel, Angela and Skweres, Sheila and Slaton, Adriane and Woods, TaRhonda and Donghia, Nina and Pardee, Keith and Collins, James J. and Jewett, Michael C.},
abstractNote = {Synthetic biology offers opportunities for experiential educational activities at the intersection of the life sciences, engineering, and design. However, implementation of hands-on biology activities in classrooms is challenging because of the need for specialized equipment and expertise to grow living cells. We present BioBits™ Bright, a shelf-stable, just-add-water synthetic biology education kit with easy visual outputs enabled by expression of fluorescent proteins in freeze-dried, cell-free reactions. We introduce activities and supporting curricula for teaching the central dogma, tunable protein expression, and design-build-test cycles and report data generated by K-12 teachers and students. We also develop inexpensive incubators and imagers, resulting in a comprehensive kit costing},
doi = {10.1126/sciadv.aat5107},
journal = {Science Advances},
number = 8,
volume = 4,
place = {United States},
year = {2018},
month = {8}
}
Web of Science
Figures / Tables:

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