For the Love of Health

Gene Editing 101: The Learning Lab with Amanda Hewes and Sarah LaTorre

• ChristianaCare • Season 2 • Episode 16

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For most high school students, field trips are an excuse to just get out of the classroom. But thanks to ChristianaCare's Gene Editing Institute, some students in our region are getting an opportunity to edit their futures.

On this week's episode of For the Love of Health, Education Program Manager Amanda Hewes and Education Program Coordinator Sarah LaTorre take a deep dive into the Gene Editing Institute's Learning Lab and the CRISPR in a Box educational kit to share how they are inspiring students and promoting equity in science education.

Amanda Hewes, M.S., is responsible for designing and creating an outreach program surrounding the Gene Editing 360 platform. The platform is designed to engage people in STEM from various levels of education including high school, college, and the public. Being one of the founders of the in vitro gene editing reaction, which is the basis for the CRISPR in a Box™ educational kit, she can provide expertise to those using the kit with a focus on helping others understand the important concepts surrounding gene editing and CRISPR technology.

Sarah LaTorre is an alumna of Wilmington University, where she pursued her B.S in Biology in 2024. After participating in the Gene Editing 360TM Learning Lab, she joined the Education & Outreach team during Summer of 2023. Sarah has a background in biodiversity and conservation research.

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Speaker 1

We want to make sure that we're giving this to everybody. We're teaching the next generation of scientists.

Speaker 2

You're listening to For the Love of Health, a podcast about delivering care and creating health, brought to you by Christiana Care. And now here are your hosts.

Speaker 3

Hello everyone, I'm Megan McGerman.

Speaker 2

And I'm Jason Tokarski. Welcome to another episode of For the Love of Health brought to you by Christiana Care.

Speaker 3

For most high school students, field trips are an excuse to just get out of the classroom. But thanks to Christiana Care's Gene Editing Institute, some students in our region are getting an opportunity to edit their futures.

Speaker 2

Joining us today to share more about the Christiana Care Gene Editing Institute Learning Lab, our Education Program Manager, Amanda Hughes Hughes, and Education Program Coordinator Sarah Latour.

Speaker 3

Amanda and Sarah. Thank you both so much for being here today. Thanks for having us.

Speaker 4

Thank you for inviting us. We're really excited to be here.

Speaker 3

You are the leads of Christiana Care Gene Editing Institute's Learning Lab. Explain what that is specifically the CRISPR in a box aspect of it.

Speaker 1

So Learning Lab is a space that we created for students to come on site for a field trip, experience and actually walk through CRISPR in a box. Crispr in a box is our educational kit. It focuses on a research experiment that actually happened in the lab and we've put it in a format that now allows students whether high school, college, they actually get to the experiment start to finish. We are working with plasmid DNA. It's just DNA that is provided, and we're working on a gene that's synthetic, so it's not found in the human body. They get to edit a gene and then they get to see a readout on bacterial plates and it's just to show a visual of a color change. And with the learning lab they get to do more than just CRISPR in a box, thinking about the CRISPR in a box experiment, talking about CRISPR and gene editing.

Speaker 4

It can be very intimidating or very scary and we like to kind of break that down by demystifying gene editing. And some of that takes some gameplay, some activities activities gameplay as in like Kahoot or having opportunities to kind of compete team against team. But on topics related to CRISPR and gene editing, students retain so much of that information and that's the reason why it's so important, because the students not only learn the science, but then they get to kind of explain it and then when they leave the learning lab it's not like OK, I just sat through a 30 minute lecture and then I did an experiment and I have no idea what's happening. They can go home and explain that to mom and dad or whoever that they want and really feel like they demystified that science and what we do at the Institute.

Speaker 2

Demystify, as you've been saying, gene editing to me and explain what CRISPR is.

Speaker 4

Yeah. So CRISPR is a longer breakdown abbreviation of some very fancy scientific terms. To give you a good snippet and funny enough to say snippet, because we like to think of CRISPR like a pair of molecular scissors. It's the tool, it helps us do gene editing, but it doesn't do the gene editing for us. So in the learning lab we've come to find that a lot of the way we explain some of the science is almost like storytelling.

Speaker 4

So we give an example of one of our characters.

Speaker 4

We call him Eugene and we say he's our character because he has genes like you and me, and really through that we found that CRISPR came as an adaptive tool to fight off viral infections and really in this case CRISPR can be created when a protein or a CRISPR nuclease is given instructions that guide RNA and when they come together those instructions tell this protein what to do.

Speaker 4

So the protein's looking for a job and now it has instructions, so it's going to perform a job. But in this case it cuts DNA and for us we use CRISPR to then go through a downstream analysis process of gene editing, whether that is in our research lab doing more so cancer-focused projects, or in the learning lab where we're working with plasma DNA and making a break and then kind of making a repair. Crispr has been a new and novel sort of tool for the gene editing field. It wasn't always readily available but we like to say it's almost like the prime time of trying to order reagents and use it in the lab. So we are at a wonderful day and age where a lot of science can accelerate and be advancing because of how accessible CRISPR is.

Speaker 2

CRISPR in a box was named the number two innovation in the scientist's top 10 innovations list for 2024, which is just got to feel great for all the work that you've put into it. What makes your product different and stand out in the field and that's special that it got that recognition.

Speaker 1

CRISPR in a box. Like I said, it allows the students to do from start to finish, so they get to do exactly what we would do is put CRISPR together, make the cut in the DNA and then reassemble it, and the fact that they get to do every step of the way just like we did in the research lab in creating this experiment. There are other kits out on the market. They'll only allow you to do like a portion, so it doesn't make them bad, it just it's different. And CRISPR in a box is actually sold and manufactured by Carolina Biologics. They're a wonderful partner.

Speaker 1

So, at least for the state of Delaware, we do send out a kit with philanthropy money and allow teachers to actually do this experiment, as long as they have the resources in their classroom, or they can come visit us on site and actually take a field trip and do like a three-hour field trip with us. So this is free. Yes, philanthropy funding to fund the program and make sure that it is one of the barriers that we knock down, because although the kit is not relatively expensive, in our eyes, from a research standpoint it's relatively low. It's a huge prohibitive thing to teachers. Time, resources and money is always one of the big challenges. We want to make sure that we're giving this to everybody, so it's equitable and it's accessible to everybody, because, you know, we're teaching the next generation of scientists.

Speaker 4

I think first, kind of explaining that we are a one-of-a-kind institute you know a research-driven institute, but really for our community and for our patients, has played a huge factor into kind of explaining some of the science.

Speaker 4

And some of the students have incredible questions, like today's class in the learning lab. They asked wonderful questions about, more so the genetics and the hereditary aspect of gene editing. So some of those things we talk about, but we more so break down the ethics. How do we talk about gene editing in a safe and humane manner where everyone feels like they understand what's happening and it doesn't feel as scary? And some of that we even pull from social media posts or from different online content that students will find, even sci-fi movies that people will see in the past, spider-man is a very popular movie when talking about gene editing. But really when you're talking about gene editing, that will not only affect patients but really benefit them. It makes it so much more positive and it makes it a little more accepting at first. But students still need to break down that science to really understand it and then to explain it to others.

Speaker 2

How many students have you impacted with this program so far?

Speaker 1

We've been able to serve about over a thousand students. We've held 45 workshops last school year and then we've seen about 32 different schools. Just last year alone was the first year that we opened it up for a full school year.

Speaker 2

And what's the kind of feedback you're getting from the students thus far?

Speaker 1

We've actually had a couple of teachers reach out to us saying you know my student, actually they changed their career path for college because of our learning lab. So I mean that's phenomenal to hear. We even had. There was a conference going on one day downstairs at the University of Delaware Star Campus, where Learning Lab is located with the Gene Editing Institute, and we had somebody stop by and they actually said their daughter had changed their major because she had been to Learning Lab.

Speaker 4

I think the best part about it is even hearing some of the success stories that have happened outside of the Gene Editing Institute but because of the CRISPR in a box kit and everything as wonderful as the learning lab and the education has to offer. Thinking about Delaware Technical Community College with John McDowell and how they have taken a lot of that foundation and that science and then have built on it and then allowed students to kind of develop their own experiments and really think like a scientist and apply themselves in that higher educational roles or outside of just the high school setting, college sort of setting, but really more so thinking about career paths within gene editing or genetics as a whole.

Speaker 1

We really hope that the students are getting an idea of you know our career paths are completely different and you would have told me I would have been doing public speaking when I was coming out of high school or out of college. I would have said you're crazy. But we also want them to pick up lab skills that not only a research lab uses. But if you go into the STEM workforce, you're going to use majority of these skills. When students come in, sit next to each other. We sometimes do a switcheroo, sarah likes to say, because you don't always get to work with people. You know you have to be able to work independently, but also as a team as well.

Speaker 4

Yeah, and other outside of just general lab skills. We do like to teach soft skills because a lot of our students are seniors, junior seniors, getting ready to go out of high school right into their career path or maybe college of choice, and some of them need that college readiness or kind of that prep to get them kick-started towards that career path that they're interested in. So sometimes it's more so time management, how to be a good colleague and coworker, and sometimes it's even more so critically thinking, thinking about as a scientist or from a researcher's perspective. You do an experiment, what results are you going to get or what do you hope to find? And then really challenge them to start thinking beyond that. What are they interested in, what do they want to do and how can they make that happen within their future?

Speaker 2

One of our previous episodes of the podcast featured Eric Kamesh, the executive director and chief scientific officer of the Gene Editing Institute, and he was talking about gene editing research in general. So how does what you're doing and this product, the CRISPR in a Box, really build upon the work that he's spearheading there at the Gene Editing Institute?

Speaker 4

Well as a whole, thinking about Dr Eric Kamesh's legacy and what he's done for the scientific community. He's been in the game for about the last 30 years, so really he's created a strong foundation for the Gene Editing Institute to really build from. And now Amanda and I are almost like a stepping stone from that, where we can allow students to really use us, to kind of get a leg up in that lab space or in STEM as a whole and just offering a new opportunity. So it's incredible to kind of get a leg up in that lab space or in STEM as a whole and just offering a new opportunity.

Speaker 1

So it's incredible to kind of build from that the part that we've really honed in on is making it relatable, because you know, unfortunately majority of us have had either someone or a loved one or somebody they know go through cancer treatment or care. And that's really one of the missions of the Gene Editing Institute is really to, you know, make sure we're providing patients with the best possible care, but we're also breaking down the science, making sure it's safe, it's ethical, and then really making sure you know, if, say, we can drop chemo resistance, then you know that would be a lot better for patients. Moving forward, we can, you know, improve a patient's quality of life, which would be phenomenal.

Speaker 1

After we finish learning labs here, sarah will take the students upstairs. We'll do a window tour of the research lab and sometimes, you know, you'll see some of us working in there and sometimes some of us are able to actually come out and talk to the students and you know we found that, like students really like to see, they could see themselves in us in the work that we do, because at the end of the day we're all people. So through Learning Lab, you know, we're able to break down what gene editing is, make sure it's not super scary for students because they're going to be the ones that take it and run with it.

Speaker 2

Is there anything else you can tell us that you have your sights on for the future, be it specifically for the Learning Lab or these kits, or for the Gene Editing Institute in general?

Speaker 1

We really would love to expand the program further. We really would love to expand the program further. So I mean, I know it's really broad when we say that, but could be a possibility Expanding some of our resources, kind of like some of the activities we do. We would really love if there were other locations, like satellite locations. If you train a teacher, they get to keep impacting students. Where you know, we'll see about 16 kids in one session, but if you train a teacher, they can impact so many more and that's how we continue our legacy.

Speaker 3

Absolutely, Sarah and Amanda. Thank you both so much for your time today. Thank you.

Speaker 2

We'll have more information on CRISPR in a box, as well as a link to our previous episode on the Gene Editing Institute in the show notes for this episode.

Speaker 3

You can always connect with us on social media. Just search Christiana Care on your favorite platform.

Speaker 2

We'll be back in two weeks with another great conversation.

Speaker 3

Until then, thanks for joining us, for the love of health.

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Megan McGuriman

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