August 2024 Newsletter

We know the end of summer means back-to-school time for many of you. Whether you’re a student, educator, or parent, the PGED team wishes you a wonderful year of learning!

In this month’s newsletter, a farewell to Helen; a Spotlight on the Science and Spirituality Institute Founder and Director, Richard Randolph; and an introduction to PGED’s new Resource Hub!

Join us in wishing a fond farewell to Helen Kim, who joined PGED as a Public Engagement Associate in 2023. Helen brought to PGED a background as a genetics counselor and a deep commitment to racial and disability justice. During her time with us, Helen organized multiple events in the Los Angeles area with youth, educators and library patrons, collaborated with Black Women for Wellness to provide programs on pressing health issues, and helped us shape and launch our ongoing NSF BIOLEAPS project. We wish Helen all the best as she begins a new chapter!

PGED’s Community Spotlight series showcases some of the remarkable people we’ve connected with through our mission to expand education and dialogue about genetics, health, and society. You can find all of our current and future Spotlights on our website!

Today, we’re going to spotlight Richard Randolph, Founder and Director of the Science and Spirituality Institute (SSI). PGED first met Richard in 2019 during a visit to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he was a pastor in the United Methodist Church. We enjoyed more opportunities to connect with Richard and collaborate through his radio show, Counterbalance, and the SSI’s 2024 launch event on “Genetics and Spirituality: Conversations at the Nexus of Science and Faith.”

Read the Spotlight to learn about Richard’s biggest project – founding the Science & Spirituality Institute in Omaha, Nebraska – and the paths of his life that have guided him to this point in his career.

Our new website has a Resource Hub! The Hub is home to all of our resources that explore concepts about genetics, ethics, and society. Now, you can use filters to search for key words and the exact type of resource you’re looking for. We hope this will make our resources easier than ever to access and use!

Members of our Educator Community – the lesson plans and mini lessons you know and love are still on our website, now in the Resource Hub! Use the search box to filter for ‘Lesson Plans’ and/or ‘Mini Lessons’ to see all that we currently offer. You might see changes to the lessons in the coming months because we are working to update the content and designs of our materials. Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns!

With the summer Olympics coming to an end earlier this month, let’s use the Resource Hub to search for resources about genetics and athletics. By typing ‘athletics’ into the keyword search bar, you’ll come across three resources. Happy searching!

Article: Fossils of ancient chromosomes found for the first time in 52,000-year-old woolly mammoth skin (CNN). “A piece of woolly mammoth skin excavated from the Siberian permafrost has been found to contain fossil chromosomes in a first-of-its-kind discovery, according to a new study.”

Article: A bespoke genetic therapy is helping Susannah. Can similar drugs be made at scale for other rare diseases? (STAT News). “The nonprofit n-Lorem is striving to expand access to ASO therapy, but tens of thousands of children with ultra-rare genetic mutations are in need.”

Podcast: Tested from NPR & CBC by Embedded (Apple Podcasts). “Who gets to compete? Since the beginning of women’s sports, there has been a struggle over who qualifies for the women’s category. Tested follows the unfolding story of elite female runners who have been told they can no longer race as women, because of their biology.”

Article: Controversial CRISPR scientist promises “no more gene-edited babies” until society comes around (MIT Technology Review). “In a public interview, Chinese biophysicist He Jiankui said he is receiving offers of financial support from figures in the US.”

Article: Beyond gene-edited babies: the possible paths for tinkering with human evolution (MIT Technology Review). “CRISPR will get easier and easier to administer. What does that mean for the future of our species?”

Are You a Fan of Our Free Resources? PGED expands the dialogue on personal genetics by creating free lesson plans, videos, conversation guides, and more. 

Please consider making a gift to PGED to help us keep our resources free. 

We are grateful for any contribution you wish to make.

PGED is always looking for opportunities to engage with new audiences. Would you like to host a group to talk about the implications of personal genetics? What about a professional development workshop for teachers in your district?

We have staff in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Washington, DC – and we are willing to travel when possible. Contact us to find out about scheduling an event in your area!