Principles of Biotechnology 1: Skills & Applications

Fall Semester

image of a lab setup

Unit 0: Thinking Like A Scientist

This introductory sequence establishes course expectations and introduces students to the foundational skills used throughout biotechnology.

Students practice making evidence-based observations, revising explanations based on unclear quantitative data, and presenting scientific information clearly and accurately to different audiences.

    • Group: Community Poster

    • Self-Introduction

    • Exit Tickets

ppe

Unit 1: Identity, Community, and Evidence in the Biotech Context

Unit 1: Intro to Biotech Skills, Careers, & Lab Safety

In this introductory sequence, students establish laboratory safety and organizational systems while exploring what biotechnology is, how it is practiced, and the many careers that contribute to the field.

Students also develop foundational scientific and professional skills—including evidence-based reasoning, laboratory measurement, résumé writing, and professional communication—while examining the history and growth of biotechnology in the Bay Area and beyond.

Lab Quiz: Lab Safety

1.1 Biotech Identity, Careers, and Bay Area Context

1.2 Skill Labs: Measuring Small Volumes

Assignments

1. Project #1: Science Identity

2. Exit Tickets

3. Corporate Project: CER Practice

  • Check-In 0: Choose 2–3 possible companies. Name the problem, affected population, and why it matters. Use CER format.

4. Career Prep - Transferrable Skills [doc]

rounds of cheese

Unit 2:
Fermentation & Bioprocessing

Students compare two methods of cheese production while learning the principles of fermentation, enzymes, and bioprocessing. Through multiple trials, they evaluate results, identify sources of error, and refine their experimental design.

  • 1. Lab #1 - Cheese Fermentation

    • Flowchart #1

    • Protocol Revision

    • Flowchart #2

    • Explanation

    2. Exit Tickets

    3. Quiz: Fermentation & Experimental Design

close-up of strawberry seeds

Unit 3:
DNA Chemistry & Genetic Engineering

Students develop their own DNA extraction protocols, communicate and analyze results, and collaborate to refine and test a class-wide procedure.

They also explore the structure and chemistry of DNA through molecular modeling and an introduction to the tools scientists use to study and manipulate genetic material.

  • 1. Lab #2: Optimizing DNA Extraction Protocol

    • Pre-lab: Protocol Flowchart

    • Group presentation #1, #2

    • Lab meeting #1, #2

    • Peer Feedback #1, #2

    • Poster

    • Reflection

    2. Paper Lab: Designing Humalin

    3. Worksheet: DNA Chemistry Review

    4. Exit Tickets

    5. Corporate Project: Technology Claim

    • What biological mechanism or tool does the company depend on?

    • What preconditions must be true for this product to work?

Unit 4:
Genetics & Model Organisms

Students use fruit flies (Drosophila) as a model organism to investigate inheritance, variation, and experimental design. Through breeding experiments, laboratory techniques, and discussions of common misconceptions about genetics, students explore how genetic traits are studied and interpreted.

    1. Genetics of Inheritance Patterns

    2. Worksheet: Punnett Square

    3. Exit Tickets

    4. Quiz: Genetic Inheritance

multichannel micropipetter hovering over a 98-well plate with liquid inside

Unit 5:
Molecular Tools & Electrophoresis

Students investigate how molecules can be separated and analyzed using gel electrophoresis. Through hands-on laboratory work with food dyes, students learn the principles behind one of biotechnology's most widely used techniques.

    1. Lab #4: Food-Dye Electrophoresis

    2. Exit Tickets

    3. Quiz: Gel Electrophoresis & DNA Chemistry

    4. Corporate Project: Distinguish weak and strong types of evidence. What kinds of data is the company relying on and how relevant and reliable are these data?

tubes waiting on a lab bench

Unit 6:
Diabetes & Medicine

Students explore how genetic information is expressed and inherited, from DNA and mutations to stem cells and human disorders.

Through scientific literature, laboratory investigations, micropipetting and solution-preparation skills, the creation of a glucose-based diabetes testing model, and discussions of health policy and health disparities, students examine the complex relationship between genes, traits, health, and society.

Skill: 13.1 How to read a scientific paper [slides]

6.1 Non-Mendelian Inheritance Patterns

6.2 Central Dogma

6.3 Mutations and Stem Cells

6.4 Diabetes and Creating Indicators (BABEC)

Assignments

  1. Group Poster: Myths of Mendelian Genetics [task doc]

  2. Lab: 5: Diabetes

  3. Sales Pitch: Macromolecules in Medicine

  5. Corporate Project: Patient Needs, Current Treatments, Meaningful Improvements

  6. Exit Tickets

x-ray of chest area with obstructions

Unit 7:
Human Genetic Disorders and Treatments

Students investigate how genes, proteins, cells, organs, and body systems influence human health and disease.

Through patient stories, guest speakers, and peer teaching, students explore how biotechnology discoveries become medical treatments and how those treatments affect patients' lives.

Assignments

Exploring Human Disorders Through Genetics [project] [outside link: University of Utah]

  1. Group Poster: Human Genetic Disorders [task doc]

  2. Webquest: 7A Human Genetic DIsorders [doc]

  3. Webquest: 7B Protein, Factors, Summary [doc]

Macromolecules in Medicine

5. Exit Tickets

Spring Semester

generic forensics lab like on a TV show

Unit 8:
Forensics & Human Variation

Students complete a forensic science laboratory investigation to explore how genetic variation can be used to identify individuals and evaluate evidence.

Through case studies on exoneration, ancestry, and personalized medicine, students examine how genetic differences can both distinguish individuals and help scientists develop more effective approaches to treating disease.

Assignments

  1. Recap: Fall Semester [doc]

  2. Group Paper Lab: Pharmacogenetics

  3. Reading: Pricing Biosimilars

  4. Reading: Forensics and STRs

  5. Reading: mtDNA

  6. Exit Tickets

blurry screens showing financial graphs against black background

Unit 9:
Biotechnology Investing and Drug Discovery

Students participate in a biotechnology stock market simulation while exploring how scientific innovation, risk, funding, and market forces influence biotechnology companies.

Through analyses of startups and established companies, students examine how research is financed, how new therapies move from discovery to market, and how business decisions can affect scientific progress, patient access, and the future of biotechnology.

green leaves against a pale blue sky with a scattering of faint white clouds

Unit 10:
mtDNA and Ancestry

Students use DNA extraction, PCR, and gel electrophoresis to investigate mitochondrial DNA and human ancestry.

By analyzing their own (or a sample person’s) genetic ancestry data and interpreting population-level patterns, students explore how scientists use DNA to study ancestry, migration, and human history.

 
blood cells

Unit 11:
Sickle Cell Anemia & Gene Therapy

Students use PCR, restriction digests, and genotype analysis to investigate sickle cell disease as a case study in genetics, evolution, and biotechnology.

Through laboratory investigations, population genetics, and gene therapy case studies, students examine how genetic variation can shape both disease risk and survival, and how biotechnology is transforming treatment options for patients.

mouse cells

Unit
12: Genetics of Cancer and Precision Medicine

Students investigate the genetics of cancer through patient case studies, including Gena's story, and learn how physicians use pathology reports and genetic information to diagnose and treat disease. Through hospital rounds simulations, students interpret clinical evidence, evaluate treatment options, and explore how biotechnology is transforming cancer care for patients and families.

3d visualization of dna molecules

Unit
13: CRISPR-Cas9 and Melanogenesis

Students investigate how genes influence traits by exploring the melanogenesis pathway, human skin pigmentation, and the evolutionary adaptations that contribute to biological variation. Through hands-on CRISPR-Cas9 experiments developed in partnership with Stanford researchers, students examine how biotechnology can be used to modify gene function and study the scientific and ethical implications of gene editing.

    • Paper Model: CRISPR-Cas9

    • Lab: CrisprKIT (external link: Stanford)

Spring Final Exam

Students receive:

a) the biotech company profile that a different group made last marking period. It contains information about Directors & Officers, Product Pipeline & Clinical Trials, Molecular Pathway, Competitors & Biosimilars, Funding Sources, Stock Performance, and major Press Release indicators of investor confidence.

b) a "breaking news update" that they must respond to

c) an individual organizer (they play 1 stakeholder (patient/doctor, science researcher, investor, FDA regulator/clinical trial coordinator) that identifies, ranks, and explains concerns)

d) a group organizer that ranks concerns and explains their recommendation using 3 pieces of reasoning & evidence

greyscale photo of a climate protest

Unit
14: Science Socratic Fishbowl - Bioethics

Students research and discuss contemporary biotechnology issues through stakeholder-based Socratic seminars. The goal of these socratic seminars is to provide an opportunity to practice engaging in contemporary and future issues challenging scientists and policymakers today. Although students may have a strong opinion, their role is to explore and represent all the stakeholder issues, through discussion. We are looking for diversity of voices and frames of analysis.

To prepare, all participants will complete a graphic organizer with their research, which will be printed and prepared for you the night before. It must contain 4 curated sources and 4 reliable sources from their own independent research. Peer and teacher feedback on active listening skills like inviting others in, summarizing, not interrupting or taking over, and questioning sources.

By evaluating scientific evidence alongside ethical, economic, environmental, cultural, and policy considerations, students practice informed decision-making about the future of biotechnology and its role in society. The structure comes from Leon Sultan, long-time history teacher.

Acknowledgments (About the Program)

At Lincoln High School (SF), I inherited this curriculum from some visionary teachers who sourced equipment, materials, industry allies, funding, and institutional support to cultivate in high school students the skills to join a biotechnology career. Folks like David Cachianes, Julie Reis, David Frischer, the team at Bay Area Biotechnology Consortium, and many other educators and partners worked tirelessly to create a sustainable curriculum and program for high school students anywhere. A high point was when high school students collaborated with UCSF at iGEM, a college-level competition. The college-level program went on hiatus for several years before I joined the school.

I have since built on those foundations and adapted the work of others to create a program that trains students in the laboratory, critical thinking, and communication skills that will make them competitive for college and career preparation. Every year, I refine the focus, cognitive load, and differentiation of assignments that build student confidence in reading scientific papers, troubleshooting lab experiments, and thinking critically. Some highlights include CRISPR-Kit, a room-temperature based technology prototyped at Stanford, a peer rubric for active listening, my own unit on breast cancer and precision medicine, my own financial investment unit on evaluating product pipelines to distinguish sustainable biotechnology companies, and several creative individual and group final assessments.

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