(BOSTON, Mass.) — NEWS: Thanks to a two-year grant recently awarded by BioMADE, the BioBuilder Educational Foundation will expand a program that has supported thousands of high school inventors over the last decade. BioBuilder is leading the project, “Launching High School Bioengineers on their Paths to College and Careers,” with funding that will bring the authentic tools and approaches for engineering biology to BioBuilderClub students nationwide in collaboration with East Tennessee State University, Ars Biotechnica, and Daicel Arbor Biosciences.
Support from BioMADE will enable these organizations to provide teams of young innovators new opportunities to design, build and test their biodesigns, and submit their research for publication as peer-reviewed manuscripts in BioTreks (Ars Biotechnica). Industry-standard biomanufacturing reagents and mentorship from professional scientists will be provided by Daicel Arbor, while East Tennessee State University will expand the geographic and demographic reach of the BioBuilderClub and spearhead a rigorous evaluation of its impact.
Thomas Tubon, Chief Workforce Development Officer for BioMADE said, “With the bioeconomy expected to contribute over a million jobs in this field by 2030, and the growing desire to connect local feedstocks to nearby manufacturing capabilities, a program like this is essential as it can raise awareness and provide opportunities to students, regardless of geography or demography.”
Founder and Executive Director of BioBuilder, Dr. Natalie Kuldell shared that, “We are thrilled to be building momentum in non-traditional STEM hubs. By simultaneously training students and celebrating their achievements, this work will draw students into the exciting and creative sides of science and engineering. It will also increase awareness among community stakeholders, including parents of participating students, high school teachers, college admissions officers, and relevant local businesses.”
These goals are fully aligned with the recently signed Executive Order on Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy that establishes the National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative. The National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative will create jobs, leverage biotechnology to build more resilient supply chains, improve health outcomes, and lower prices for Americans by expanding biomanufacturing capacity, creating market pathways for bio-based products, training a diverse workforce, and fostering innovation.
About BioBuilder:
Created by an award-winning team from MIT, BioBuilder empowers teachers and schools to better serve students and employers by elevating the skills that students are taught. Founded in 2011, BioBuilder has grown to partner with schools in almost every state and around the world. BioBuilder builds confidence in teachers to learn and apply the synthetic biology curricula, and provides laboratory kits and an openly accessible textbook that enable experiential learning.
BioBuilder also works directly with district and community leaders to identify potential roadblocks to narrow the gap between science innovation and science education — at least for biology – across the U.S., and better match the skill of our nation’s workforce to the needs of the synthetic biology industry. Learn more by visiting https://biobuilder.org/.
About BioMADE:
Launched in 2021, BioMADE is a Manufacturing Innovation Institute sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense. By supporting the development of biomanufacturing technologies, BioMADE and its network of 150+ members across 29 states are strengthening American competitiveness, creating a more resilient supply chain, and helping the U.S. becoming more self-sufficient. Learn more about BioMADE by visiting https://www.biomade.org/.
About ETSU:
East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. It is the fourth largest university in the state with nearby off-campus centers. It hosts the James H. Quillen College of Medicine, often ranked as one of the top schools in the United States for rural medicine and primary care education; the Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, and the recently formed College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences. Learn more about ETSU at https://www.etsu.edu/.
About Ars Biotechnica:
Ars Biotechnica is a public nonprofit corporation with the goal of teaching high school students and teachers about synthetic biology. They publish BioTreks, the first international synthetic biology journal to be authored and reviewed by high school students. The journal is intended to give participating students the valuable experiences of writing and evaluating scientific papers, while offering them opportunities to share their own synthetic biology ideas, techniques, and results in a professionally edited, online publication. Learn more by visiting https://biotreks.org/.
About Daicel Arbor Biosciences:
Daicel Arbor Biosciences, a subsidiary of Chiral Technologies, Inc. (part of Daicel Corporation), is a biotech company that is specialized in targeted Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), in situ hybridization probe design, and cell-free protein expression. Their products and services have been utilized in broad applications in genomics, cytogenetics, and synthetic biology. They have served customers in plant, animal, human, bacteria, and virus areas for more than fifteen years. Learn more by visiting https://arborbiosci.com/.
Related link: https://biobuilder.org/
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