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

项目摘要/摘要 鉴于现代历史在分子生物学方面的进步，从指数下降到 基因组测序、核苷酸合成和基因组编辑的成本(CRISPR)，合成 生物学正准备成为技术进步的下一场重大革命。白宫 在2019年生物经济峰会上认识到了这一趋势，强调了发展的必要性 强劲的生物经济和培训下一代劳动力以推动其向前发展。然而， 在资金充足的毕业生中，合成生物学的研究和教育仍然占据主导地位。 易于获得商业设备和培训的研究机构。高中生 尽管本科生的道路是最好的，但他们并没有看到同样的可达性 进入研究事业和广泛研究的目标表明了 劳动力的多样化。实现综合实践培训的关键瓶颈 生物学缺乏负担得起的硬件，特别是在注重预算的高中实验室。 节俭科学的最新倡议试图通过以下方式来解决其中一些瓶颈 著名的节俭发明包括20美分的纸离心机，23美分的电穿孔机和1美分的 美元显微镜，仅举几例。拟议的工作将发展一个节俭科学学院，一个 第一，对K-12 STEM中代表不足的群体(URM)进行培训，以指导他们自己的工作 通过开发自己的节俭工具进行合成/分子生物学研究并获得研究成果 经验通常是设备精良的大学所独有的，以及ii)培养专业人才 发展课程和训练营培训节俭的佐治亚州农村高中教师 硬件进行自己的分子生物学实验并引入合成生物学 在其现有课程中增加课程内容。 总体而言，节俭科学院的成功将有助于引入年轻的创新者和 发明者进入迅速扩张的合成生物学领域，使他们能够进行自己的 用节俭的方式打破成本壁垒的生物医学研究和生物研究 设备，并与教师合作，开始一项新的广泛的合成生物学倡议 高中课堂上的课程。

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.