While synthetic biology seems out of the realm of the possibilities for Junior High School students to understand, we decided to take our research and the basic ideas behind synthetic biology to the Center for Talent Development (CTD) Program at Northwestern University. This program is for talented students of all ages and we decided to hold a seminar for the biology class which had rising 6th and 7th graders.

In this seminar, we presented the basic ideas behind synthetic biology to the students about how there are limitless possibilities of what can be done with biology. One of our main examples was the green fluorescent pigs; a gene from jellyfish can be taken and inserted into the genome of pigs, leading to fluorescence within pigs. The students were extremely intrigued at the possibilities. Then when we explained our project to the students they were interested at how this system could be used in their mouth to fight cavities. Some kids even asked about how drinking orange juice or lemonade would affect the dual state, and whether it would activate the pH-inducible promoter or not.

At the end of the presentation we split the students into 3 different groups at which point we acted as advisors, allowing them to come up with their own ideas of iGEM-like projects. One of the best ideas was using a cell to fix CO2 to make energy.

After the presentation, the CTD professor was very impressed at how quickly the students were able to pick up the information and offered us to hold a second seminar for another group of students later that evening. That too was equally successful and we received many comments from students who wanted to enter the Center for Talent Development Program next year hoping to maybe take a course on synthetic biology.

A New Approach to Human Practices

Our project involves a new approach to human practices because we not only introduce a novel transcriptional regulation element, which increases the safety and control over any gene linked to the element, but we outline a unique method of implementation. We suggest that our dual-state promoter be engineered into a native oral bacteria, S. mutans. Hillman was able to abolish lactic acid production in an engineered strain of S. mutans by deleting the gene containing lactate dehydrogenase. He then conferred upon this strain a selective advantage over the wild-type by introducing a gene that produces mutacin 1140, a peptide antibiotic that behaves antagonistically toward the wild-type strain. Should our dual-state construct be transferred into a similarly-engineered bacterium, the bacteria will be able to colonize the mouth without running into interference from the wild-type strain. Otherwise, a wild-type strain may have a selective advantage over an engineered strain, since the engineered strain may be forced to devote resources to the dual-state construct. Our suggestion is to implement such an engineered bacteria in a bacterial toothpaste. Because proper brushing should remove plaque, this leaves dental surfaces for an engineered bacteria to colonize the mouth.

We acknowledge that dissent among the public exists about genetically-engineered organisms. The general public might not be too keen to brush their teeth with a bacterial toothpaste, particularly because we associate toothpaste with cleanliness and sterility. Much of this dissent is due to ignorance about what synthetic biology actually is. However, our work with the middle school students enrolled in the Center for Talent Development summer program has demonstrated that these concepts are very easy to grasp if properly explained, even for young children. We suggest that educational outreach to children in schools, dental offices, and pediatricians’ offices might sway public opinion on a bacterial toothpaste.