Mississippi Science GEN.3.4
The Standard
- GEN.3
- Students will investigate biotechnology applications and bioengineering practices.
Enrichment: Develop logical arguments based on scientific evidence for and against ethical concerns regarding biotechnology/bioengineering.
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Biotechnological Applications
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students use scientific evidence to make arguments for and against a proposed use of gene editing. They explain which concerns the evidence supports and where a decision also depends on values.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can argue both sides of editing an embryo to prevent an inherited disease. They use evidence about potential benefits and unintended DNA changes without claiming either outcome is certain.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may assume every gene edit can pass to future children, even when only blood stem cells are edited. They may treat a possible unintended change as certain, or assume preventing disease settles every ethical question.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Embryo editing might prevent an inherited disease, but unintended DNA changes might pass to future children. Write one argument for its use and one against, citing a fact in each.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs cards about embryo editing, possible disease prevention, inherited changes, and unintended edits; have them sort the cards into benefits, risks, and unknowns.
Ask: Should embryos be edited to prevent an inherited disease? Write one evidence-backed reason for each side.
Run a claim-check round: teams draw a gene-editing claim and choose which of three evidence cards supports it.
Show the FDA's Casgevy approval notice, then ask whether edited blood stem cells can pass changes to a patient's children.
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Printable GEN.3.4 Worksheet
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- ENV.1.10
Enrichment: Engage in scientific argument from evidence the benefits versus harm of genetically modified organisms.
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