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

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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.