Educational Resources
Resources to help educators enable amazing science
Our Educational Resources Center is meant to help educators at every level find strategies to connect students with biology,
finding direct links between classroom practices and real-world applications of biotechnology.
COVID-19 resources
- COVID-19 Genetics Webinar: YouTube
- COVID-19 Genetics Webinar slides: PPT
- COVID-19 Webinar Student Worksheet: PDF Google Doc
- COVID-19 Three Things Student Assignment: PDF Google Doc
- Use of miniPCR in SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid detection
DNAdots
- DNAdots: Simple Explanations of Modern Genetic Technologies
Genes in Space
- miniPCR partners to create Genes in Space STEM competition
- Visit Genes in Space student competition website
- Read blog articles on Genes in Space
miniPCR bio™ Learning Lab Guides
Crime Lab – Missy Baker Missing
Genes in Space Food Safety Lab
PTC Taster Lab
- Instructor’s Guide
- Student’s Guide
- Classroom Presentation
- Study Guide Answers Key
- miniPCR Hardy-Weinberg Calculator
miniPCR Sleep Lab
GMO Detection Lab
miniPCR Plant Genetics Lab
miniPCR Forensics Lab: D1S80 VNTR
- miniPCR Forensics Lab Instructor’s Guide
- miniPCR Forensics Student’s Guide
- miniPCR Forensics Lab Classroom Slides
- D1S80 Data Spreadsheet
miniPCR-PARE Antibiotic Resistance Lab
- Antibiotic Resistance Lab Instructor’s Guide
- Antibiotic Resistance Lab Student’s Guide
- Antibiotic Resistance Lab Classroom Slides
Shark Attack Lab
blueGel™ Rainbow Lab
Sickle Cell Genetics Lab
P51 DNA Glow Lab™
P51 Enzyme Lab: β-Gal Glow™
P51™ Chlorophyll Lab: A Free Resource
P51™ qPCR Lab: Principles of Quantitative PCR
P51™ Introduction to Fluorescence Lab
BioBits™ Central Dogma
miniPCR™ Real-world case studies
- STEM Education: Transforming biotech education in the classroom
- Animal health: PCR on the farm: Raising healthy animals
- Agriculture: Using genetics to grow better truffles (TED version here)
- Forensics: Bringing DNA analysis closer to the evidence
- Human health: Malaria detection in Nigeria using miniPCR
- Human health: Combating Ebola in Sierra Leone
- Human health: PCR diagnostics for mosquito-borne infections
- Biodiversity: From snakes to DNA sequences in 24 hours
- Biodiversity: Studying lemur genomes in the Madagascar forest (Case study. Publication.)
- Biodiversity: Real-time DNA barcoding in a remote rainforest using nanopore sequencing (Full-text PDF. Video.)
- Molecular Ecology in the Austrian Alps (student-led Wolbachia research)
- Microbiology: Sequencing microbes on the ocean floor (NASA collaboration)
- Space Biology: Announcing results of first PCR in microgravity
- Space biology: Enabling DNA sequencing in space (NASA collaboration)
- Space biology: First DNA amplification aboard International Space Station (watch video)
- Synthetic biology: Bioengineering on a simulated mission to Mars
- DIY Bio: Engaging with molecular biology at home
- Research: miniPCR™ in academic research labs
Lab in a Box: Free miniPCR Loaner Kits
- Visit Genes in Space website to apply for a free Lab in a Box
DNA101 Labs (with household ingredients)
- Strawberry DNA Extraction Lab (using household materials)
- blueGel Electrophoresis Rainbow Lab (using food coloring)
TED Talk by miniPCR co-founder Sebastian
Technical papers and publications
- Stability of PCR product at room temperature
- Fast PCR in 24 minutes with miniPCR
- PCR: Thirty-five years and counting. (Science Magazine Technology Feature mentioning miniPCR.)
- Portable and accurate diagnostics for COVID-19: Combined use of the miniPCR thermocycler and a well-plate reader for SARS-Co2 virus detection. (Gonzalez-Gonzalez et al., MedRxiv, 2020)
- Influenza A Virus Field Surveillance at a Swine-Human Interface (Rambo-Martin et al., Clinical Science and Epidemiology, 2020).
- Next-generation in situ conservation and capacity building in Madagascar using a mobile genetics lab (Blanco et al., BioRxiv 2019).
- Nucleic acid detection aboard the International Space Station by colorimetric loop‐mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) (Rubinfien et al., FASEB BioAdvances, 2019).
- Validation of use of the miniPCR thermocycler for Ebola and Zika virus detection (Gonzalez-Gonzalez et al. PLoS One. 2019).
- Backpack PCR: A point-of-collection diagnostic platform for the rapid detection of Brugia parasites in mosquitoes (Zaky et al., PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2018).
- Successful Amplification of DNA aboard the International Space Station (Boguraev et al., NPJ Microgravity, 2017).
- Gene expression studies using a miniaturized thermal cycler system on board the International Space Station (Montague et al., PLOS ONE, 2018).
- Real-time DNA barcoding in a rainforest using nanopore sequencing: opportunities for rapid biodiversity assessments and local capacity building. (Pomerantz et al., GigaScience, giy033, 2018. PDF.)
- PCR Heads into the field. Technology feature, Nature Methods 2015, Vol. 12 No. 5
- Rapid identification of infections (Park et al., Science Advances 2016, Vol.2 No.5)
- A simple, economical protocol for DNA extraction and amplification where there is no lab (Guevara et al., 2017) PDF
- Performance of miniPCRTM mini8, a portable thermal cycler (Kwon et al., 2016)
- PCR Detection threshold sensitivity: miniPCR vs. Biorad S1000
- miniPCR vs. Biorad iCycler
LARPs
LARP: Live Action Role Play.
Participants are assigned characters and asked to represent biological processes to break up the more formal classroom environment in a fun, often humorous, and productive way. The key to a good classroom LARP is creating situations where students must make decisions by applying their biological knowledge. Role playing involves giving students rules to follow and goals to achieve; not simply following a script. For difficult concepts, especially molecular processes for which students have little context, a LARP can help students gain a frame of reference that is otherwise missing, and they can be used in classes ranging from middle school science to Advanced Placement Biology.
