Assessing Student Conceptions of Protein Synthesis with a Case Study in CRISPR and De-extinction

Abstract

Scientific modeling is a practice that we use frequently in our undergraduate biomedical applications course for nonscience majors. We use case studies in which students apply course concepts to create cause-and-effect models. In this article, we describe a case study assessment on protein synthesis that examines the use of CRISPR to bring back the mammoth (i.e., de-extinction). Students learn about protein synthesis throughout the course and work on various case study scenarios to apply those concepts. Their final assessment is a team project to illustrate how protein synthesis is influenced by gene editing, including gene expression and its regulation, transcription, translation, protein structure and function, and the ultimate impact on an organism’s phenotype. Although we use this case study as an assessment, it is also appropriate as a class activity in which students practice modeling the CRISPR gene-editing system.