BioBuilder Founder and Executive Director, Dr. Natalie Kuldell, was invited to be a panelist at the April 10th AI+ Biotechnology Summit in Washington, D.C.
The event, hosted by the Special Competitive Studies Project, brought together innovation and biotechnology leaders to showcase cutting-edge technology, explore policy recommendations, and highlight key factors essential to U.S. competitiveness in shaping a coordinated strategy for leadership in AI-enabled biotechnology.
Dr. Kuldell was a member of the panel that addressed Building the Biotechnology Workforce of the Future. She was joined by Rep. Chrissy Houlahan the U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania, Dr. Angela Belcher the Commissioner of the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, and Dr. India Hook-Barnard the Executive Director of the Engineering Biology Research Consortium. What a team!
The panel’s discussion ranged from national initiatives to high school incentives and everything in-between. A few examples of the insights shared by Dr. Kuldell and her fellow panelists include:
- Project-based STEM learning is good for helping all students feel welcome and confident, and many of them become very enthusiastic about solving real-world problems with biotechnology.
- Not all high schoolers want to go on to college, and not all biotechnology jobs require a college degree. And yet, ensuring the basic bioliteracy of high school graduates is crucial and must also include STEM aspects beyond biology.
- Project- and skills-based learning is an excellent way to help students find purpose in high school and for their post-high school career plans.
- To help grow the biotechnology workforce nationwide, high schools need to be incentivized to help them overcome the common aversion to the risks of adopting new “unknown” curricula.
- Every region has some existing strengths that can be joined with the biotechnology revolution to bring more economic prosperity to its people and businesses. The place to start is with regional K-12 education.
There is so much more, and you can watch the entire panel presentation here. You’ll be encouraged and inspired!
Want to know more?
The U.S. Senate’s National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology has been working on strategic recommendations to guide present and future national biotechnology efforts. You can read the commission’s recently finalized report of priorities and recommendations HERE.
Chapter 5 focuses on building the biotechnology and begins with the sentence, “America’s greatest strength has always been its people.” This theme was reinforced by each of the speakers on the workforce panel, with Dr. Kuldell’s comments about how education and job opportunities must serve all. Check out the video highlights of her presentation – with the 2:00 mark leading to a round a applause and the 3:45 mark getting giggles.
There’s so much work to be done and, as many speakers at the meeting said, “There is still time to act but there is no time to waste.”
If you haven’t done it yet, please find a way to join our growing community of BioBuilders. You can visit our new Learning Lab, participate in our new BioTechBuilder training, or find even more news and opportunities on our new website!
35 BioBuilderClub Articles Submitted to BioTreks
BioTreks is the first international synthetic biology journal to be authored and reviewed by high school students. The journal gives students the valuable experiences of writing and evaluating scientific papers, while offering them opportunities to share their own synthetic biology ideas, techniques, and results in a professionally edited, online publication.
BioTreks articles are in one of four formats depending upon their content:
- Lab Reports describe the results of at least one complete experiment and draw meaningful conclusions based on the results.
- Design Articles describe the systems, devices, and parts of a proposed synthetic biology solution to an environmental or societal problem.
- Perspectives Articles provide commentary on a wide range of topics related to performing synthetic biology research and education in high schools.
- Methods Articles provide detailed procedures and tips for performing standard synthetic biology techniques or assays.
This spring, BioBuilderClub teams submitted 35 articles for consideration for the Fall 2025 edition of BioTreks! Here’s a summary of the articles submitted by these amazing students:
Six Lab Reports on:
- Enhanced degradation of PET plastics
- Combatting antibiotic-resistant E. coli
- Minimizing agricultural methane emissions
- Impact-resistant biomaterials
- Bone tissue engineering scaffolds
- Road salt alternatives
Two Perspectives Articles about:
- Peanut allergen detection
- Detection of canine hemangiosarcomas
Twenty-seven (27) Design Articles in the areas of:
- Human health and disease therapies
- Environmental health and remediation
- Waste treatment
- Food science
- Animal health
- Bioenergy
- Biomaterials
All submitted articles are currently being evaluated by the BioTreks review team. Those accepted for publication will be announced in early June. A detailed schedule of the review process and publication cycle can be found here. (Interested in volunteering with the BioTreks Team? Reach out to them here!)
Let’s cheer on our hardworking BioBuilderClub teams while looking forward to celebrating their publications this October!