Bringing 21st-century science into schools

In recent years, biotechnologies have begun to move out of laboratories and into daily life in astonishing ways. Or consider CAR T-cell therapy, which has allowed hundreds of people with cancer to be treated successfully using their own altered immune cells. These bioengineered cells appear to be more effective than drugs or radiation at targeting cancer cells for elimination. Scientific literacy in K-12 education is a "means for students to assert and defend claims in science, demonstrate what they know about a concept, and convey what they have experienced, imagined, thought, and learned". Biology as design enables students to see scientific knowledge as a valuable resource for not only asserting and defending claims but also for designing applications that are of personal, economic, and critical societal relevance, from creating new colors, toys, and games to inventing new kinds of insulin, batteries, sensors, and so much more.