3 South Dakota science teachers learn how messenger RNA vaccines work

Three South Dakota science teachers learned techniques to study how cells work through a four-day biology workshop at South Dakota State University in Brookings.

The lessons, which include how messenger RNA vaccines work, aim to help the teachers get their students excited about cutting-edge science.

The Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines use messenger RNA — or mRNA — that do not contain a live virus.

“I am going to incorporate this into my genetics unit,” said Bobbi Jo Bohnet, a middle school science teacher in Clark. “Life sciences is my favorite class to teach and this workshop is a perfect fit.”

This will be Bohnet’s fifth year teaching in Clark.

Tracy Chase, who has taught science at McCook Central in Salem for 18 years, said, “I participated in Dr. Nepal’s iLEARN project in 2018. I really enjoyed it and the connections that I made, so I asked if there was room for me in this workshop, and there was.”

Brian LaBelle, a member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, began teaching high school science at Tiospa Zina Tribal School in Agency Village last year after a 31-year career in medical technology with the Indian Health Service. With his first year spent teaching online, he’s looking forward to getting into the classroom and getting students excited about science.

The teacher workshop is part of a four-year, nearly $1.14 million National Science Foundation project that uses simplified cell circuitry, known as synthetic biology, to study how proteins are produced, degraded and modified.

Assistant professor of biology and microbiology Nicholas Butzin led the project. Butzin worked with professor Madhav Nepal of the SDSU Department of Biology and Microbiology to plan the workshop, selecting topics based on next-generation science standards.

“We showed in a test tube how DNA transcribes to RNA and RNA to protein, using proteins that are fluorescent so they can visualize that transformation. This is the central dogma of molecular biology and one of the hardest concepts for students to follow — this makes it real,” Butzin said.

Ten SDSU graduate students assisted teaching the lessons, with at least two students working with each teacher. The teachers and graduate students had the option to earn two college credits at a discounted rate through the workshop.

“The teachers were so open with the graduate students. It was really fascinating to see the collaboration,” said Nepal.

In addition to learning how to prevent contamination in a lab environment, the teachers spread different bacteria on growth medium in a petri dish to paint a picture. Each bacteria turned a different color after incubation.

The instructors also bioengineered bacteria, cloning a fluorescent encoding gene into bacteria to understand how synthetic biologists can redesign and modify organisms for practical purposes.

“Within 24 hours, the teachers could see their modifications using ultraviolet light,” Butzin said.

During the final session, Butzin and a graduate student described the science behind vaccines, including the new RNA vaccine technologies.

“All three COVID-19 vaccines are synthetic biology products, which helps people understand why this is so important,” Butzin said.

The participants’ lessons will be available on SDSU’s Open Prairie after the completion of the workshop and then worldwide through the National Science Foundation database during the final year of the project.

“This research project has an effective science outreach component focusing on the professional development of the K-12 science teachers. Integrating teacher training on contemporary synthetic biology topics, such as development of mRNA vaccines, is a sustainable way of helping teachers and getting students interested in biotechnology, biology and science in general,” Nepal said.