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Synthetic-Biology Ethics Council

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Grades 9-1290 minSource: Creative Dad Company

Students model a proposed synthetic-biology application—like a modified crop or bacteria—entirely on paper and in diagrams, then convene a council to debate its risks and benefits without ever touching a real lab bench. It's high-concept bioethics made concrete.

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Prep: 10 minActivity: 30 min1 session~$2/groupOne table for the Synthetic-Biology Ethics Council evidence and prototypeBeginner-friendly

Setup

Print or handwrite the four Synthetic-Biology Ethics Council challenge steps and place common paper supplies on one table. Prepare one small sample, dataset, scenario, or recycled-material model drawn directly from the project description; no device, paid tool, room decoration, or purchased kit is required.

Activity

  1. Read the Synthetic-Biology Ethics Council challenge aloud, then read a short brief on a proposed synthetic-biology application and predict its biggest potential benefit and its biggest potential risk.
  2. Use paper, index cards, recycled objects, or facilitator-provided sample data to diagram how the modified organism or system is supposed to work, labeling each intended change.
  3. Run one tabletop trial and introduce a realistic complication—an unintended side effect or a containment failure—and debate how the design should respond.
  4. Finish by hold a council vote on whether the application should proceed, with each side presenting its strongest evidence-based argument; record the evidence that supports the decision.

Done when: The group completes a defensible Synthetic-Biology Ethics Council solution, records at least one test result or comparison, changes one claim or design in response, and supports its final decision with that evidence.

Materials

poster board, marker set, index cards, printed background reading

Shown for the Quick Start version — switch tabs above to see what changes.

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Steps

  1. Read a short brief on a proposed synthetic-biology application and predict its biggest potential benefit and its biggest potential risk.
  2. Diagram how the modified organism or system is supposed to work, labeling each intended change.
  3. Introduce a realistic complication—an unintended side effect or a containment failure—and debate how the design should respond.
  4. Hold a council vote on whether the application should proceed, with each side presenting its strongest evidence-based argument.

Standards it satisfies

  • NGSS · HS-LS3-1

    Ask questions to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring.