Frugal Science Academy: Training K-12 innovators and democratizing synthetic biology tools

项目总结/摘要 考虑到现代历史在分子生物学方面的进步， 基因组测序、核苷酸合成和基因组编辑（CRISPR）的成本， 生物学将成为技术进步的下一个重大革命。白宫 在其2019年生物经济峰会上认识到了这一趋势，强调需要发展 一个强大的生物经济和培训下一代劳动力来推动它的发展。然而，在这方面， 合成生物学的研究和教育在资金充足的研究生中仍然占主导地位， 研究机构可以很容易地获得商业设备和培训。那些在高中 本科生的途径并没有看到同样的可访问性，尽管他们是主要的 研究事业的发展目标和广泛的研究表明， 劳动力的多样化。实现合成语言实践培训的一个关键瓶颈 生物学缺乏负担得起的硬件，特别是在有意识的高中实验室。 最近的节俭科学倡议试图解决其中的一些瓶颈， 值得注意的节俭发明，包括20美分的纸离心机，23美分的电穿孔器，和1- 美元显微镜，仅举几例。拟议的工作将建立一个节俭的科学院， 第一类，i）在K-12 STEM中培训代表性不足的群体（URM）， 研究合成/分子生物学通过开发自己的节俭的工具和获得研究 经验往往独家装备精良的大学，和ii）发展专业 发展课程和训练营，以培训农村格鲁吉亚高中教师， 硬件进行自己的分子生物学实验，并介绍合成生物学 现有课程的组成部分。 总的来说，节俭科学学院的成功将有助于引进年轻的创新者， 发明家进入迅速扩展的合成生物学领域，使他们能够开展自己的研究 生物医学研究和生物学研究，打破成本壁垒， 设备，并与教师合作，开始一个新的广泛的合成生物学倡议 高中课堂的课程。

Project Summary/Abstract Given modern history’s advancements in molecular biology, from the exponential decrease in the costs of genome sequencing, nucleotide synthesis, and genome editing (CRISPR), synthetic biology is poised to be the next major revolution in technological advancements. The White House has recognized this trend in its 2019 Bioeconomy Summit, emphasizing the need for developing a robust bioeconomy and training the next generation workforce to carry it forward. However, research and education in synthetic biology has remained predominant in well-funded graduate research institutes with easy access to commercial equipment and training. Those in high schools and undergraduate pathways have not seen the same accessibility despite them being the prime target for advancement into research careers and extensive research indicates the value in diversification of the workforce. A key bottleneck for enabling hands-on training in synthetic biology is lack of affordable hardware, especially in budget-conscious high school laboratories. Recent initiatives in frugal science have attempted to address some of these bottlenecks with notable frugal inventions including the 20-cent paper centrifuge, 23-cent electroporator, and 1- dollar microscope, to name a few. The proposed work will develop a Frugal Science Academy, a first-of-its-kind, to i) train underrepresented groups (URM) in K-12 STEM to conduct their own research in synthetic/molecular biology by developing their own frugal tools and gain research experiences often exclusive to well-equipped universities, and ii) to develop professional development courses and bootcamps to train rural Georgia high-school teachers with frugal hardware to conduct their own molecular biology experiments and introduce synthetic biology components to their existing curricula. Overall, the success of the Frugal Science Academy will help introduce younger innovators and inventors to the rapidly expanding field of synthetic biology, empower them to conduct their own biomedical research and biological research by breaking down cost barriers using frugal equipment, and collaborate with teachers to begin a new widespread initiative of synthetic biology curricula in high school classrooms.