Touchpoint 1
Bioptimus Start-Up Aims to Lead AI Biology
What is it?
A French biotech company is working on a large language model (like ChatGPT) that specializes in biology.
Potential message for students:
If researchers can talk to a chat bot that understands all of biology, do you think this will lead to breakthroughs? Do you think one day high school biology students will have access to this model?
Touchpoint 2
Is this the technology to win Kiwis over to genetic engineering?
What is it?
A bioplastics scientist thinks it’s possible to use genetically modified microbes from bees to make a new type of plastic. Her home country, New Zealand, has strict genetic engineering rules, so she decided to work with General Electric in the U.S.
Potential message to students:
Do you agree that New Zealand should have strict rules or do you think they are missing out on creating jobs at home? If a bee’s nest material can be engineered to make plastic, what other materials might be made out of a bee’s nest materials?
Touchpoint 3
Is the 100-year old TB vaccine a new weapon against Alzheimer’s?
What is it?
In the early 1900s, scientists created a tuberculosis vaccine that is credited with saving millions of lives. This same vaccine is now being used to treat other diseases and may by helpful with Alzheimer’s.
Potential message to students:
Do you think some of our old vaccines only worked on one disease? Or do you think they worked on multiple diseases, but were named for only a single disease, like tuberculosis? Do you think it’s possible that old vaccines can be used on current diseases?