Inclusivity

Synthetic biology is an expanding field with applications ranging from agriculture to medicine. Nonetheless, if synthetic biology is to reach its potential in enriching humanity, it needs to be inclusive.. Unfortunately, access is not equally distributed. Our team identified key barriers to accessing synthetic biology:

• U.S. public school constraints
• Age restrictions
• Limited outreach to religious minorities
• Rural geography
• Lack of accessible resources for students with learning disabilities
• Language barriers
• Web inaccessibility
• Inaccurate or missing captions and audio alternatives

Our efforts focused on addressing each of these barriers to expand access to synthetic biology.

Indentifying Barriers

Through careful research and reflection, we recognized that access to synthetic biology is often shaped by systemic social and economic factors. In team meetings, we discussed how we first accessed synthetic biology and brainstormed what prevented others from doing the same. We realized that most of our members came from private schools, despite the fact that the vast majority of American students attend public schools. We also realized older adults had completed their education before synthetic biology breakthroughs; non-native English speakers likely struggled with scientific terminology; and disabled people faced a lack of accessible resources. We also considered barriers faced by religious minorities, rural communities, and the general absence of synthetic biology in American education. By first naming these barriers, we could begin to design outreach to reach those who could not access synthetic biology.

Public Schools

Target groups: Public school students, non-Khan Lab School students

Our team was founded at Khan Lab School, a private school. As the only high school iGEM team in Northern California, we realized that our private school’s tuition and limited enrollment excluded anyone who wasn’t a Khan Lab School student. Additionally, our school provided financial support and mentorship in ways that public schools couldn’t.

To address this, we actively recruited students from other schools. Avery, one of our team leads, sent flyers to schools encouraging students to join.

As a result, our team consists of students from 9 schools, including 4 public schools. About half of our members are not Khan Lab School students. One of the students recruited, Nikhil Nunna, had previously started an iGEM team at Carlmont High School in 2025. When the team dissolved due to financial constraints, we invited him to join our team and continue pursuing his work in synthetic biology. Each member adds a unique perspective to the team, and together our members speak a total of 14 languages.

In addition to recruitment, we worked on increasing access to synthetic biology at public schools through education. For instance, we ran a workshop at Hillview Middle School, a public school in Menlo Park, for 23 sixth graders on the Central Dogma and genetics. By reaching out to students before high school, we inspired them to explore synthetic biology early on and potentially join our team or other synthetic biology projects later on.

We ran a short presentation teaching the Central Dogma and a DNA bracelet activity to reinforce what they learned. Students constructed bracelets to model genetic processes, selecting three genetic traits and identifying their corresponding DNA sequences. They then transcribed these DNA sequences into RNA, using differently colored Froot Loops to represent each nucleotide and assemble their bracelet. Finally, students traded bracelets with a classmate and translated the RNA sequences into drawings of unique animals that expressed the traded traits. This activity provided a tangible and engaging demonstration of transcription and translation.

The students were very excited by their first introduction to synthetic biology, with one student even writing, “you guys made me super excited about genetic engineering.”

Senior Center

Target group: Older adults / Senior Citizens

Senior citizens (aged 65+) generally have limited knowledge of synthetic biology, largely because they completed their formal education before the field emerged. Consequently, many older adults had lower understandings of synthetic biology. Members of our team visited the Mountain View Senior Center and led a workshop introducing 20 older adults to synthetic biology through a hands-on strawberry DNA extraction activity.

We put specific effort into showing how synthetic biology has improved the world, using examples such as synthetic insulin and LAL to dispel fears of genetic engineering. The team also checked that all text on the slides was at least 18 pt font, so that all information would be easy to read even with impaired vision. The slideshow was also projected onto a very large screen.

At the beginning of the workshop, participants stated that they were previously unfamiliar with synthetic biology. After covering the Central Dogma, synthetic biology examples, and the DNA extraction activity, we asked the older adults to write down one thing they enjoyed and one thing we could improve. Most of them forgot to tell us what we can improve on, but those who did suggested we hand out more napkins. A majority of the older adults expressed a positive opinion on using synthetic biology, and many reported finding the new information very interesting. Many of them reported enjoying learning about synthetic biology as it felt it helped them better understand the present and allowed them to engage with local youth.

Hindu Temple

Target group: Hindus (religious minority), Gujarati & Hindi Speakers

Our team visited Shreemaya Krishnadham, a Hindu temple in San Jose, to engage with our local Hindu community. We ran a three-hour session for children of various ages. We introduced them to synthetic biology and the four biological macromolecules through a lecture and hands-on activities, including cheesemaking, strawberry DNA extraction, and a CRISPR paper simulation activity.

The workshop was run in a mix of English, Gujarati, and Hindi. Worksheets were also provided in each language.

Overall, the children really enjoyed the workshop, especially the hands-on activities. One of the younger children even asked if we could run a workshop every week as they wanted to learn more about synthetic biology.

Verslo School

Target group: Students in rural Kenya

One of our members, Orchita, visited Verslo School, a public elementary school in Usenge, a rural town in Western Kenya. She presented to a class of 20 fifth and sixth graders whose biology education had only covered organs, body systems, and basic cellular biology.

Orchita began by introducing our team and the iGEM competition to spark interest in synthetic biology and genetic engineering. She then taught the Central Dogma, covering DNA and RNA structure, the function of genes, and modern biotechnology tools.

To reinforce these concepts, Orchita led two hands-on activities including codon bingo and strawberry DNA extraction. The students mastered translating amino acids from codons and expressed excitement when they were able to see extracted strawberry DNA without a microscope.

Creekside School

Target group: Students with learning disabilities

Members of our team visited Creekside School in San Jose, California, a nonprofit private school for autistic students with high support needs and learning disabilities. The class consisted of 6 students, ages 18-22, who experience difficulty with verbal and nonverbal social communication and require external support. The students had very little science education prior to our lesson as most of their education focuses on life skills.

Prior to the session, we messaged back and forth with the school’s instructors to ensure our material matched the students’ needs. Due to their advice, we chose and adapted a very straightforward activity and laminated all materials to meet the classroom’s guidelines.

We started with a lesson on the Central Dogma and DNA/RNA structure. To reinforce these concepts, we played codon bingo. Each participant received a bingo card with amino acids listed in each square. We called out DNA or RNA codon sequences, and students determined which amino acid each codon represented. They then marked that amino acid on their cards, and the first to mark 5 in a row won.

The students took some time to become comfortable with our presence. We kept our lesson and activity brief to adapt to the students’ shorter attention spans. The class size was also intentionally small so students would not feel overwhelmed. Afterwards, the students expressed they found the activity fun while the school staff was very appreciative and positive about our lesson.

CRISPR-Kit Expansions

Target group: Students with limited educational science resources

CRISPR-Kit is an initiative by Stanford University’s Stanley Qi Lab working to make biotechnology accessible to high school students. In 2025, members of the Qi Lab collaborated with our team to run CRISPR experiments with Khan Lab School students. This year, our team continued this collaboration through Khan Lab School’s cornerstone program.

10th and 11th graders at Khan Lab School are encouraged to work on year-long cornerstone projects. Two Khan Lab School students chose to dedicate their cornerstone projects to expanding CRISPR education accessibility in collaboration with the Stanley Qi Lab.

One student, Zoya Khare, produced a series of educational videos teaching fundamental concepts of CRISPR-Kit. The purpose of these videos was to communicate scientific ideas in a visually engaging way that would be easy for a broad audience to understand. The videos use a combination of hand-crafted visuals, animation, narration, and editing to explain the chosen topics. Rather than relying on large amounts of text, the information is presented through moving visuals that help illustrate key ideas and processes. This makes the content more engaging and easier to follow than a traditional written explanation.

A key feature of the final product is its stop-motion style. By using physical paper cut-outs and photographing them frame by frame, Isha was able to create animations that have a distinctive handmade appearance. This gives the videos a unique visual identity while also helping to hold the viewer’s attention.

The finished videos were produced to a professional standard and revised using feedback from the CRISPRKit team. The final versions include clear narration, synchronised visuals, and smooth editing, creating polished educational resources that can be used to support science communication and outreach.

Another student, Isha Ghosh, focused on creating CRISPR-Kit experiment simulations through LabXchange. The simulations are intended to make genetic engineering easier to understand through visuals. The project focuses on the CRISPRi mechanism, which uses dCas9, a deactivated form of Cas9.

The first simulation is modeled after a CRISPR-Kit melanin experiment designed to be a first introduction to CRISPR technology. The simulation is designed for users to drag components into reaction tubes and see how CRISPRi (CRISPR interference) affects gene expression.

The second simulation was focused on a real-world application, showing how CRISPRi could be used to turn off antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria and make them more susceptible to antibiotics.

Together, the simulations and videos were designed as an alternative to CRISPR-Kit for educational settings inaccessible to the Qi lab due to transportation constraints.

Pamphlet Translations

Target group: Readers with limited or no English proficiency

To continue this translation effort, we created a pamphlet with a general overview of our project. We then translated the pamphlet into __ languages, including English, German, Gujarati, Polish. These translations were written and/or verified by native speakers of each language to ensure accuracy.

Web Accessibility

Target group: Disabled people (who use digital assistative technologies)

Web accessibility means properly designing and coding digital content so that disabled people can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with it. This includes users with visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive impairments who may rely on assistive technology such as screen readers, braille displays, keyboard navigation, and voice recognition software. Roughly 1.3 billion people worldwide are disabled (WHO, 2023). To ensure our wiki is accessible, we followed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) which are developed with input from disabled users, and tested our design using real assistive technology.

Websites that lack basic accessibility features exclude users from accessing digital content. Inaccessible content can prevent visually impaired users from understanding images, make navigation difficult for users with motor disabilities, and more. Proper web accessibility also benefits non-disabled users. For instance, high color contrast that helps users with low vision also improves readability in bright sunlight, while alternative text that describes images to visually impaired users also displays when images fail to load due to connectivity issues. Beyond ethical reasons, web accessibility is a legal requirement for certain websites in many countries, such as Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act and the European Accessibility Act.

To prepare team members for coding the wiki, Avery ran a Web Development course. In this course, students spent two weeks learning about Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) compliance, accessibility auditing, and practical implementation strategies. Students audited websites and identified key accessibility tools: Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIAs), alternative text, Document Object Model (DOM) order, color contrast, keyboard navigation, and mobile compatibility.

As part of their training, students audited approximately 30 winning and nominated Best Wikis from previous competition years. They found that all lacked basic accessibility features, such as alternative text for images or basic functionality on mobile screens. In fact, the default wiki template that iGEM gives teams to start with has color contrast violations and improper heading structure. iGEM calls itself the heart of synthetic biology, yet inaccessible wikis exclude millions, if not billions, of potential participants.

To correct this error, our team put specific effort into ensuring our wiki meets WCAG standards. These guidelines are implemented throughout the wiki. Examples include alternative text for all images, proper heading structure, color contrast, keyboard navigation, and mobile-friendly design. This effort included everyone on the team as effective accessibility must be integrated through every iteration of content creation.

All images on our wiki have proper alternative text. All members of our team were trained in how to write appropriate alternative text, to make sure that every image is properly accessible. As a result, our wiki is AA compliant with WCAG, the second highest level of compliance.

Video Captions

Target group: Deaf and hard of hearing people

Our promotion and presentation videos include verified captions. Generated captions often are insufficient and require verification, especially for accuracy. While many platforms offer auto-generated captions, the error rates are very high. It is common for words to be misspelled, especially scientific terminology, acronyms, and proper nouns. Verified captions are reviewed and corrected to ensure they properly reflect actual spoken content, thereby preserving accuracy (W3C, 2024).

Captions provide a written version of spoken content, making videos easier to follow. They make videos accessible to deaf and hard of hearing viewers, and are helpful for non-native speakers, people with attention or cognitive difficulties, and anyone watching in sound-restricted settings such as noisy or quiet environments.

Other Education

Target group: K-12 Students

To expand general access to synthetic biology for other K-12 students, our team ran a variety of workshops and elective courses. This includes an elective course at Khan Lab High School, a bootcamp at Proof School, and a series of CRISPR workshops at Khan Lab Middle School.

At Khan Lab High School, our mentor Ansh ran a semester-long course to teach lab skills, experimental design, aseptic technique, central dogma, as well as plasmid and gene editing techniques. The course included a number of labs, from creating an experiment to test the efficacy of a UV sanitizer to transforming bacteria with a plasmid from the iGEM distribution kit. From there the course moved on to newer technologies including optogenetics and sequencing, even successfully sequencing a strand of DNA.

Alyssa, one of the team’s co-leads, ran a 6 week long bootcamp with 13 students at Proof School in San Francisco. The course covered an in-depth review of the central dogma of biology, gene-editing technology such as CRISPR, concepts behind basic lab techniques, and more. Students learned basic lab techniques like PCR and gel electrophoresis, and applied them to various lab experiments, including genotyping their own cheek cells and isolating GFP from transformed E. coli cells.

Members of our team ran two workshops with 25 seventh-grade students at Khan Lab Middle School. We first gave a short presentation reviewing DNA and the Central Dogma, then watched a video about the basics of CRISPR/Cas9. To help the students better understand CRISPR/Cas9 students ran through a paper simulation together, cutting DNA models and making two repairs: NHEJ and HDR.

Later, students were visited by members of the Stanley Qi Lab to run through a CRISPR-Kit experiment. Members of our team assisted in the experiments and helped answer students’ questions. Overall, a majority of students reported they learned a lot in the workshops and found the activity fun. For example, one student explained, "I loved that you guys had a physical activity [be]cause that made the information you taught us make so much more sense with a visual representation," while another said, "the instructions were pretty clear because there was a demonstration on the screen, which was helpful."

Through these three efforts, our team reached many more K-12 students and introduced them to synthetic biology. Even though they did not have specific barriers preventing access to synthetic biology, the topic was never previously included in their science education.

Documentation

Target group: Synthetic Biology Educators

Our team created several activities, lesson plans, and educational resources designed to be reusable. We thoroughly documented all materials we used and created, including slideshows and worksheets.

Worksheets we created include:

Other worksheets we used but didn’t create include:

Other teams and educators are welcome to use our materials and adapt them to expand access to synthetic biology. All educational material is compiled on the contribution page and is free to download.

Summary

Our team identified a number of barriers preventing participation in synthetic biology seen locally and globally. We focused on addressing these barriers through various outreach efforts to public school students, older adults, our Hindu community, rural students, students with learning disabilities, non-native English speakers, disabled people using assistive technology, and deaf and hard-of-hearing people. With these initiatives, we expanded participation in synthetic biology and science more broadly by introducing synthetic biology to communities that lacked access. We ensured members of the target group had their needs, opinions, and values considered by requesting feedback before, throughout, and at the end of initiatives. This included checking with instructors and organizers prior to workshops, asking participants if they had any questions or concerns throughout, and distributing feedback cards at the end. Our efforts were thoroughly documented on the wiki so that other teams or external entities could build upon our work.

References

W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). (2024, September 17). Captions/Subtitles. Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Making Audio and Video Media Accessible. https://www.w3.org/WAI/media/av/captions/

WHO (World Health Organization). Disability. 7 Mar. 2023, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/disability-and-health.