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This spring, we’ve been busy engaging with high school students and teachers, community members, and scientists on personal genetics. This includes a presentation and workshop with researchers in our Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, workshops with high school teachers and students in the Worcester Public Schools, and with visitors to the America Innovates celebration in San Francisco. We are tremendously inspired by the interest, questions, and perspectives we heard.
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COLLABORATING WITH THE WORCESTER PUBLIC SCHOOLS
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Our collaboration with Worcester Public Schools is in full swing. In mid‑April, we held workshops with two amazing groups of biology and biotechnology teachers from across the district, in collaboration with MIT’s Edgerton Center. Gill facilitated powerful discussions utilizing our four corners activity, and Marnie shared bite-sized resources for sparking students’ connection to the real-world impacts of genetic technologies through the lens of sickle cell, sports and athlete safety, and emerging therapies.
In response to requests from teachers, we focused a third workshop in May on classroom implementation and differentiating curricula for teachers working with students who are multi-lingual learners, English learners, or in special education programs. We were thrilled to learn about ways that teachers are bringing personal genetics into their classrooms and are looking forward to the final workshop in this series in June!
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Gill working with two groups of biology students on the pedigree activity.
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As part of this collaboration, we had a fantastic opportunity to work with a biology teacher in Worcester who was looking for a new way to engage his students in learning about and drawing family health history pedigrees. Gill and Robin worked with Jim to design a classroom activity that introduced students to pedigrees using a role-play approach – with students as genetic healthcare providers!
In April, Gill piloted this activity with three biology classes, where students were deeply engaged in thinking through questions that can surface when discussing family histories. Students were making connections to their own families, information they’re seeing in media about health and technology, and even to their future careers as healthcare providers.
A big thank you to Jim and his students! We’re excited to incorporate what we learned from them into the next version.
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EXHIBITING AT AMERICA INNOVATES (SAN FRANCISCO, CA)
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We were invited to share PGED’s work at the America Innovates celebration in San Francisco, CA, hosted by Forbes and America 250. Over three days, more than 5,000 people passed through the exhibition, and we had the chance to connect with educators, families, students, community members, and innovators who shared their stories and personal connections to genetic research and technology. A huge thank you to our HMS colleague and former advisor George Church, one of the innovators honored at the event, for inviting us to exhibit. It was especially fun to showcase our work alongside the colleagues of another HMS honoree, Tim Springer, including the Marine Biological Lab and two inspiring patient advocates—great conversations all around.
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George Church visiting PGED’s booth at America Innovates.
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A crowd of people visiting PGED’s booth at America Innovates.
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WORKSHOP AT HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
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Thanks to the researchers and HMS community leaders who joined Marnie & Gill for a public engagement workshop. We were struck by the sense of purpose in the room, the dedication to education and public engagement, and all the offers to help advance PGED’s mission. We’re looking forward to hearing about the conversations you spark with Share Your Stance and to continuing this work together.
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Saving the Hawaiian Honeycreeper Birds
Can genetic technology be used to rescue the Hawaiian honeycreeper birds? There is a new generation of genetic tools offering ways to change the world around us to improve human health, crops, and the environment. However, not everyone agrees that these tools would be a benefit. Some people worry about the unintended consequences of their use.
This mini-lesson explores multiple viewpoints via the story of the honeycreeper birds in Hawaii.
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PERSONAL GENETICS IN THE NEWS
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Here are some of the articles we’ve been reading this month.
Article: Why cows burp methane: new ‘cellular organ’ discovered in gut microbes (Nature News). “Scientists have identified a hydrogen-producing organelle in rumen microbes that could offer new ways to cut methane emissions from grazing livestock.”
Article: A New Way To Think About Age and Cancer Genetics (Harvard Medical School News). “By factoring in patient age, researchers distinguish cancer-driving mutations from those that simply accumulate over time, reshaping how genetic risk is interpreted.”
Article: Are microbes the future of pollution clean-up? (Nature News). “Synthetic biologists are engineering bacteria to devour oil, plastics, and toxic chemicals, raising hopes that tailored microbes could become frontline tools for environmental remediation.”
Article: Powerful tools are revealing the ‘control knobs’ of the genome (Nature News). “High-throughput assays are rapidly mapping DNA switches that control gene expression, revealing the hidden grammar of the regulatory genome and how scientists might rewrite it.”
Article: Revealed: the mysterious ‘dark’ proteins that might play a big role in biology (Nature News). “A sweeping survey of thousands of previously overlooked microproteins suggests that this ‘dark proteome’ may be crucial for normal biology and disease.”
Article: 23andMe offers to connect users’ DNA data with medical records (STAT). “A new partnership with HealthEx will let 23andMe customers merge genetic data with lab results and medical records into an AI-generated health summary, intensifying debates over privacy and data control.”
Article: Colossal Biosciences is growing chickens in a 3D-printed artificial eggshell (MIT Technology Review). “By hatching chicks inside 3D-printed plastic ‘eggshells’ that mimic real shells’ gas exchange, Colossal takes an early step toward ex utero development platforms for ambitious de-extinction projects.”
Note: Views expressed in shared articles are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect the views of our organization.
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Our team loves creating resources that make an impact in classrooms, community spaces, and beyond. Consider giving a gift to show some love for PGED resources in our Resource Hub.
All donations help keep our resources freely available online.
We are grateful for your generosity.
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Please note that 15% of donations pays for overhead which allows us to do the work that we do from our home in the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School.
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WANT TO PLAN AN EVENT TOGETHER? LET’S DO IT!
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, Colorado, and Connecticut – and we are willing to travel when possible. Contact us to find out about scheduling an event in your area!
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www.pged.org
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