LEGO GENETIC ENGINEERING

The 7th graders in Massachusetts learn about Mendelian genetics and Punnett Squares. As I am tasked with developing engineering and technology lessons relating to their education, I have developed a LEGO DNA Reader to allow kids to take in strings of 'genes' and to analyze them.

Students draw up 'DNA' strands as dark and light segments of graph paper squares. The dark and light sections would represent the dominant and recessive alleles of a particular gene... perhaps eye color. The completed paper genome is then slid through the device, which reads the genes in as high and low light signals. Students can then perform some transformations on the data in math class and can talk about the differences between the random process of inheritance and the selective nature of genetic engineering. We may ask the students to "design" a virtual organism based upon available DNA and desired phenotypic traits in the offspring. It might be neat to look further into the future than a single generation in order to model a population as it changes due to genetic manipulations. Perhaps we could use the computer to simulate genetic drift. Now to write up some activities and worksheets for this thing!

Acknowledgements: This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DGE-0230840. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation (NSF).