Synthetic Biology for Global Good: Volume I

Roberts, Louis A.; Farny, Natalie G.

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Synthetic Biology for Global Good: Volume I

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This collection of articles represents the outcomes of our approach to engaging students as direct contributors to the synthetic biology primary literature. BB4260:Synthetic Biology is a seven-week, three-credit course, and uses a medley of mini-lectures, case studies, discussion, and active learning to explore current primary literature in the field. Thirty-one students majoring in life sciences (biology and biotechnology, biochemistry, or biomedical engineering), primarily juniors and seniors, enrolled in and completed the course. As part of this course, we created a project designed to engage students deeply in the process of creating biological literature by writing a mini-review style article, and engaging in the process of peer review. To define the theme of their article, and to help students place their projects within the context of important global challenges, we prompted each student to review the 17 Sustainable Development Goals identified by the United Nations and rank the goals according to their personal interests. We then used these rankings to create five project groups of students with like interests. From there, students searched the primary literature to refine their topic ideas within their groups. The students iterated on their projects by writing and revising a total of three drafts. The student authors have made important contributions in the areas of human well-being, equity, sustainability, and environmental health, through their insightful synthesis of the literature into the following articles in this collection: “Carbon Capture by Transgenic Plant Greenspaces in Urban Communities” by Katherine Stratton, Hannah Shell, Anna Wix, William Miller, Hayley Wigren, and Priscilla Anand; “Water Quality Biosensing Using Engineered Microbial Fuel Cells” by Erik Breiling, John Gabelmann, Rachel Grandmaison, Caitlin Guifoyle, Taylor Johnson, and Adam LaBombard; “Improving Inequalities: Protein-Based vs. mRNA Vaccines” by Shelby Tweedie, Maire Murphy, Bethany Atwood, Jocelyn Hinchcliffe, Samantha Lopez, and Andrew Voronin; “Hot & Bothered: Engineered Microbes to Treat GI Inflammation” by Hope Hutchinson, Lauren Abraham, Alyssa Carta, Gabrielle Paquette, Kaitlyn Bergeron, and Kaleigh Caserta; “Enhancing Algae Biomass from Biofuel Production as an Alternative Feed for Livestock” by Gianluca Panza, Mira Kirschner, Aashi Akare, Dylan Mackisey, Mikayla Raffin, and Komlavi Touglo. Generating and disseminating this collection was made possible via the generous support of the WPI Women’s Impact Network (WIN) EmpOwER program.

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