Have you ever wondered if there is a better way to 
treat illnesses or diseases? For most common illnesses people are usually prescribed medicine from their doctors in the form of pills or a liquid substance. For more serious and life threatening diseases such as cancer people undergo serious treatments that have very unpleasant side effects. These types of medicine could also be in the form of pills, surgery or chemotherapy which is a liquid filled with chemicals that kill both bad and good cells around the cancer that causes the patient to lose their hair, feel extremely tired and depressed. Well scientists have come up with a different prospective solution: DNA Origami. DNA Origami are nano-structures (extremely small) that can be programmed to complete a certain activity. That could be to sense if there is a disease in someone’s body, or to attach to a cell and prospectively kill it. This could be an extraordinary way to cure cancer because there would be no side effects, or danger to the patient.
The student handout will be given to all students working on the design
challenge. It gives a brief recap of the story, it helps the students identify what they are attempting to achieve, and it recaps the design process.
DNA Origami TEK8 Instructor’s Guide
This Instructor’s Guide provides the instructor additional information on how to run the design challenge with alternatives for materials and test setups as well as information to help make the design challenge a good educational experience.
The Telling the Story Video conveys the societal impact of the student’s research that is the basis for the design challenge and will set the problem-solving context for students.
The Design Challenge Videos lead students through the design process. They indicate materials available, state what the criteria are for success and any constraints. They also give a second ‘level’ of the design challenge that allows ‘early completers’ to move on to a slightly more difficult challenge.
The presentation can be used in conjunction or in place of the Design Challenge Video.