{"id":1330,"date":"2022-05-11T16:27:39","date_gmt":"2022-05-11T16:27:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.stetson.edu\/faculty-engagement\/?p=1330"},"modified":"2023-02-12T20:09:37","modified_gmt":"2023-02-12T20:09:37","slug":"professor-lynn-kee-receives-300k-nsf-grant-to-teach-gene-editing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.stetson.edu\/faculty-engagement\/2022\/05\/11\/professor-lynn-kee-receives-300k-nsf-grant-to-teach-gene-editing\/","title":{"rendered":"Professor Lynn Kee Receives $300K NSF Grant To Teach Gene Editing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Dr.
Assistant Professor of Biology Lynn Kee, PhD, right, works with junior Maggie Struble on a DNA sample inside a Sage Hall Science Center lab on Feb. 1, 2022. Photos: Stetson University \/ Izais Ocasio<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Inside the Sage Hall Science Center, students soon will work in a lab with microscopes and needles to alter a strand of DNA in butterfly eggs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The students will use CRISPR gene-editing technology this semester to change the color of butterfly wings from orange and brown scales to black scales \u2014 with one simple cut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stetson Assistant Biology Professor Lynn Kee<\/a>, PhD, received a $299,996 grant from the National Science Foundation to teach students about this technique. Associate Philosophy Professor Melinda Hall<\/a>, PhD, will teach them about the bioethics surrounding its use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"portrait\"
Lynn Kee, PhD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe point of the grant was to bring CRISPR into the classroom in the sense that I want students to learn about this technique because it\u2019s so new,\u201d Kee said. \u201cIt\u2019s not even really in textbooks. My genetic textbook has literally two, three paragraphs about it. And so what I want them to learn is about what\u2019s currently happening in society, what\u2019s happening in science, what\u2019s happening in medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"portrait\"
Melinda Hall, PhD<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The discovery of CRISPR technology was awarded a Nobel Prize in 2020 and now is used in medicine, agriculture and food production. \u201cGiven the broad reach of CRISPR, there is an increased need and urgency for undergraduate students to learn about and consider how to use the technology appropriately,\u201d according to her grant<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CRISPR<\/a> is actually a molecule that acts like a pair of scissors to cut a strand of DNA at a very precise location. Scientists are using the technology to try to treat a variety of diseases and medical conditions, such as sickle cell disease, by correcting the mutation in the gene that causes the disorder. Earlier this month, doctors transplanted a genetically modified pig heart<\/a> into a male patient after using CRISPR gene editing to make the organ less likely to be attacked by the patient\u2019s immune system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Colorful
Pipettes are an indispensable tool when working with DNA and analyzing genes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At Stetson, Kee introduced the technology in a 2019 pilot project, teaching students how to disable a gene that makes a certain bacteria glow green.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the NSF grant, she will use butterflies, raising them in Sage Hall from caterpillar to chrysalis, a process that takes about a month. Once the butterfly emerges, it will live for about three weeks and, if provided certain leaves, will lay eggs there. These blue eggs will be collected and used for the CRISPR gene-editing technique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cButterflies are beautiful. We can learn a lot from studying them. We actually deliver CRISPR into these butterfly eggs to basically target a specific gene that\u2019s involved in butterfly wing color and patterning,\u201d Kee said. \u201cBecause what I want for them (students) to understand is how CRISPR works and for them to be able to see it with their own eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Junior Chloe DeYoung, left, and sophomore Hannah Swartz perform DNA gel electrophoresis in an experiment looking at their own DNA sequence. Both students plan to attend medical school.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once the DNA is altered, the butterflies will not be released into the wild. \u201cWe\u2019re very careful with what we do,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kee has used the NSF grant to purchase microscopes and microinjection systems for the lab and other specialized equipment and supplies to analyze and sequence the DNA. The three-year grant will fund two research assistants each year in the lab, beginning this semester. A post-doctoral faculty fellow will be hired starting this fall to help teach classes. The grant will also provide funds for Kee to train faculty from other colleges in implementing CRISPR technology in the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, inside the Sage Hall lab, students were busy making copies of DNA taken from their cheeks. Next, they will sequence it and analyze it before moving on to the CRISPR gene-editing technique with butterfly eggs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Student
Junior Briana Hall, right, works with a DNA sample in the Sage Hall lab.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Senior Adrianna Strozak is a laboratory research assistant in the class and was helping students with the various laboratory techniques needed to copy their DNA. She took this class a year ago and hopes to one day earn a PhD and conduct medical research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s partially what made my senior research possible was the experience that I got taking this class,\u201d said Strozak, whose senior project is entitled, \u201cTesting amplification of the butterfly gene optix by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Junior Briana Hall plans to attend dental school and was enjoying working with DNA for the first time in the class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou feel like you\u2019re a scientist,\u201d said Hall, a biology major. \u201cIt\u2019s not like we\u2019re just sitting in a lecture, writing down notes. We\u2019re actually doing what she\u2019s teaching us, which is awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

-Cory Lancaster<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

See original post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inside the Sage Hall Science Center, students soon will work in a lab with microscopes and needles to alter a strand of DNA in butterfly eggs. The students will use CRISPR gene-editing technology this semester to change the color of butterfly wings from orange and brown scales to black scales \u2014 with one simple cut. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-facultyaccomplishments","category-faculty-awards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.stetson.edu\/faculty-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.stetson.edu\/faculty-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.stetson.edu\/faculty-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.stetson.edu\/faculty-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.stetson.edu\/faculty-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1330"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.stetson.edu\/faculty-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1331,"href":"https:\/\/blog.stetson.edu\/faculty-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330\/revisions\/1331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.stetson.edu\/faculty-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.stetson.edu\/faculty-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.stetson.edu\/faculty-engagement\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}