Day: December 4, 2013

10:25 – When a person I respect suggests something, I pay attention. When two people I respect independently suggest the same thing, I really pay attention. So, 18 months ago at my father-in-law’s 90th birthday party, I was chatting with Mary Chervenak about future science kits. Mary suggested we do a biotechnology kit–protein and DNA extraction, digestion, and electrophoresis; DNA transformation into E. coli; bacteriophage propagation; DNA transfection into eukaryotic cells; and so on. Lately, I’ve been talking to Todd Rider, who’s senior scientist at MIT Lincoln Laboratory and on the advisory board for the S.P.A.R.K. competition that we’re entering this month. Todd suggested the same thing Mary had. So I think we’re going to do a biotechnology kit, in addition to or instead of an AP Biology kit. We’ll face some real challenges putting such a kit or kits together, but all of those involve keeping the kit(s) affordable. I’d like to be able to start shipping these kits next year, but it will probably be 2015.

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