North Carolina is in the final stages of preparing to pay 10 million dollars in reparations to people who were victims of their state-sponsored sterilization program. Â The deadline to file for a payment, if you are a victim, is June 30, 2014. Payments are set to begin a year from now, in June 2015. An overview of the latest developments is here, information about filing a claim is here, and pgEd’s lesson plan that looks at the history of the American Eugenics Movement, with an emphasis on the situation in North Carolina, Â is found on our Lesson Plan page.
In the News
Submissions for the 2019 National DNA Day essay contest is now open! Teachers, check the link below to find out about this year's essay question and more information about the contest.
ashg.org
National DNA Day commemorates the completion of the Human Genome Project in April 2003 and the discovery of the double helix of DNA in 1953. This year's DNA Day will be on Thursday, ...Posted by pgEd 1 month ago
An event that our teacher friends may find useful: NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins will be hosting a Facebook Live event on Monday, Dec 10th from 3:15-45 pm ET, where he will take questions from middle school students from across the US. You are invited to livestream this event to your classroom and submit your students' questions in the event feed's comments section!
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
How can you start a career in STEM? Join NIH Director & geneticist Dr. Francis Collins on December 10, 2018 at 3:15 pm ET for a conversation featuring Johnson Creek Middle School on becoming a scientist. Dr. Collins will be taking questions from middle school students from across the U.S.!
Posted by pgEd 3 months ago
In light of the reports of the first children born after having their genes edited as embryos, pgEd is developing a mini-lesson to aid teachers in discussing this subject with their students. The article below presents the facts as they are currently known. This is a developing story with many pieces still unclear. As more information becomes available, we will add links to resources and news stories in the comments.The mini-lesson will build on pgEd's 2017 lesson plan on genetic engineering and CRISPR (see link below to download for free).
Chinese researcher claims birth of first gene-edited babies - STAT
statnews.com
A Chinese researcher claims that he helped make the world's first genetically edited babies — twin girls whose DNA he said he altered with CRISPR.Posted by pgEd 3 months ago
A little context based on a question I've heard - what is CCR5, the gene that was altered in the embryos that gave rise to the children? Its a gene that we all have - and in very rare cases, people might have versions that make them resistant to HIV infection. Read about the "Berlin Patient" -the first person cured of HIV as a result of a transplant from a donor with this genetic variation. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4287108/
http://pged.org/lesson-plans/#crispr
Thank you!
Lisa Cardillo Liz McMillan
pgEd's Johnny Kung recently wrote in the blog of Addgene, the nonprofit repository for genetic tools, about pgEd's work and how he made the transition from bench science. Read his post here!
Engaging with science and society at pgEd
blog.addgene.org
Learn how the Personal Genetics Education Project (pgEd) engages with various communities and discusses developments in biological science and technology. Get tips on how to work at a...Posted by pgEd 5 months ago
Tomorrow (Sat, 9/15), pgEd will be at the 5th annual STEAM Expo at Newton Free Library. Come visit our booth if you're in the area!
eventbrite.com
No registration is necessary. Join us for our fifth annual STEAM Expo as part of our ongoing programming for all ages related to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, ...Posted by pgEd 5 months ago