BioBits™ Explorer: A modular synthetic biology education kit.

Autor: Huang A; 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., Nguyen PQ; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.; School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA., Stark JC; 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., Takahashi MK; Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA., Donghia N; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA., Ferrante T; Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA., Dy AJ; 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., Hsu KJ; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA., Dubner RS; Department of Biological Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA., Pardee K; Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3M2, Canada., Jewett MC; 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., Collins JJ; 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.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Science advances [Sci Adv] 2018 Aug 01; Vol. 4 (8), pp. eaat5105. Date of Electronic Publication: 2018 Aug 01 (Print Publication: 2018).
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aat5105
Abstrakt: 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.
Databáze: MEDLINE