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CRISPR, the gene-editing technology, has been one of the major breakthroughs in biology in the last two decades. And while students learn about the capability to cut, paste, and alter genes, it's rare that they get the chance to understand the technology by using it themselves.

Enter CRISPRkit. The Stanford-made invention contains all the materials needed to conduct a CRISPR experiment in the classroom at about $2 per kit (or approximately $40 for materials for an entire classroom). The results can be analyzed solely with a smartphone camera and the CRISPRkit website.

While it's still a distance from being available across the nation, a recent paper published in Nature Communications authored by Stanley Qi, associate professor of bioengineering in the schools of Engineering and Medicine, Qi lab members Matthew Lau and Marvin Collins, and others brought attention to the potential of CRISPRkit to bring modern biology advances to the classroom.

"Our goal is to democratize biology," said Lau. "The demand is there—this could serve as a model to bring these kinds of opportunities to classrooms."

Starting early

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