We are entering an age of extraordinary opportunity in which rapid biotechnological advancement is allowing anybody to engineer biology and make a difference in this world! To harness this opportunity, Open Bio Labs serves as the nexus between the evolving scientific landscape and the community, where students can engage in their own scientific exploration. Our K-12+ education center is designed to teach students the fundamentals of biotechnology, common laboratory techniques and essential research skills, with the help of passionate instructors, committed mentors and a dedicated lab space.
The goal of our Learn program is to establish the competence and confidence in students of all ages to take charge of their own learning pathways and begin to build using biology. We are the garage of Steve Jobs in the era of Biotechnology and we are addressing three fundamental needs to make this vision a reality:
Homeschool students need engaging science education opportunities.
Due to the lack of available infrastructure in the form of laboratory environments and trained instructors, we have witnessed a wide disparity within homeschool students regarding their exposure to science. Open Bio Labs’ classes have been widely embraced and celebrated within the homeschool community due to the opportunities we are providing their children. Therefore, Open Bio Labs endeavors to build upon this demonstrated need by constructing a lecture-based educational program tailored to homeschool students, but available to all students. Two 12-week courses in Molecular Biology and Ecology will introduce the current understanding of life sciences at the molecular and organismal levels through a lense of synthetic biology by considering the effects of manipulating those systems.
Students pursuing science fair projects need research mentorship.
Students that have parents who are scientists are far more likely to excel in the science fair than students without scientist parents. Without access to resources such as a lab or mentorship, a student’s project becomes severely limited compared to what they would be able to develop given the resources. Open Bio Labs has received countless requests from educational institutions to mentor students for science fair projects. Our 12-week Mentorship program provides individual guidance to young researchers in order to develop the softer skills of research, such as hypothesis generation, experimental design, problem solving, collaboration, and results communication.
Students pursuing competitive internships and colleges need lab skills.
In today’s era of hyper-competitiveness, those students that demonstrate real world experience and marketable skills are those that will get the best opportunities. Additionally, theoretical knowledge is only as good as the skills to apply that knowledge. Our 12-week lab series takes young researchers from zero to genome editing using CRISPR by teaching them the essential technical skills needed to probe biological systems.