Assignment: Using CRISPR To Identify the Functions of Butterfly Genes Essay

CRISPR-based technologies have become widely used in research and have been applied in a broad range of
biological studies. The technology is relatively cheap, easy to use, and allows researchers to ask new questions
and get results faster than previously possible. BioInteractive’s CRISPR-Cas9 Mechanism & Applications Click &
Learn provides more information on how CRISPR works and how it is used by scientists.
TEACHING TIPS
• The “” section of the CRISPR-Cas9 Mechanism & Applications Click & Learn covers much of the
same information as Part 1 of this activity. It may be helpful for students to explore the Click & Learn first,
then do Part 1 as a review.
• In addition to the CRISPR Click & Learn, this activity can be paired with several other BioInteractive resources
involving CRISPR:
o The “Building a Paper Model of CRISPR-Cas9” activity has students build and explore a two-dimensional
paper model of the CRISPR system. This activity is appropriate for both high school and college audiences.
o The “Winging It: Analyzing a Scientific Paper” activity has students analyze parts of the research article
(Zhang et al. 2017) that is the source of Figures 2–4 in the “Student Handout.” The “Winging It” activity is
most appropriate for an undergraduate audience.
o The Central Dogma and Genetic Medicine Click & Learn, its accompanying worksheet, and the Genes as
Medicine short film show how CRISPR and other biotechnology tools can be used to treat genetic
diseases.

• To minimize the use of class time, students could do some of this activity as homework (for example, the Click
& Learn question at the end of Part 3 or the optional extension section).
• The “Butterfly Photos” PDF contains enlarged versions of Figures 2–6 in the “Student Handout.” These images
should be shown to students in color. The images can be projected on a screen if color printing is not
available. Another option is to share the images online.
• Gene inactivation with CRISPR makes use of nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ), which is the cell’s main
repair process for fixing double-stranded DNA breaks. Students may want to know more about how CRISPR
can cause mutations using this process. During NHEJ, the broken ends of the DNA are brought together and
rejoined. This process can be error-prone, because sometimes nucleotides are lost from the broken ends and
re-added incorrectly by the cell’s repair machinery. If the DNA sequence is repaired correctly by NHEJ, Cas9
will just bind to the sequence using the guide RNA and cut the DNA again. Although the cell can keep
repairing the DNA, Cas9 will continue cutting it until the cell finally adds the wrong nucleotides, often causing
the gene to lose function. Once the DNA sequence has the wrong nucleotides, Cas9 will no longer cut it again,
because the guide RNA will no longer match and bind to the DNA

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• The is a great resource