CRISPRkit (tEquity Seed Grant)

Field	Value
Status	🟢 Active — Initial scoping complete
Category	Seed Grant (tEquity)
Lead	Maren Pfirrmann (marenpf@stanford.edu)
Contact	Alexander Choi (achoi45@stanford.edu)
What	Making CRISPR biotech affordable and accessible for K-12 classrooms
Reuben’s Role	Technical consultation — cross-platform app development, chatbot prompts
Tags	[CO-CREATE] [ADVISE] [BRIDGE-BUILD]

Team

• Alexander Choi — Postdoc in Stanley Chi’s lab (Bioengineering). Working to get project into classrooms.
• Maren Pfirrmann — Project lead. PhD in Biology. Writing teacher handbook.
• Matthew Borg Hymn Lau (mattlau8@stanford.edu)
• Belinda Yeung (byeung@stanford.edu)

What It Is

CRISPR gene-editing biotech translated for classrooms. Students add DNA + CRISPR into a tube, observe color change (~30 min experiment). Costs ~$1-2 per experiment vs. $18-42K for traditional lab experiments. Delivered kits to 1,000+ classrooms.

CRISPR Companion App:

• AI chatbot for troubleshooting during experiments (RAG-based)
• Phone camera greyscale image analysis to calculate experiment results
• Pre/post quizzes integrated
• Currently iOS only — need cross-platform

Support Needs (from Mar 23 meeting)

1. App development — Cross-platform (currently iOS only). Reuben to consult with Alex.
2. Chatbot/prompts — RAG model based on experiment Q&A. Reuben to help with prompt design.
3. Study design — Team is new to education research. Need help designing a rigorous study (Title I vs non-Title I comparison).
4. Survey improvement — Current survey too subjective. Need objective evaluation metrics.
5. Spanish translation — For partnerships in Mexico.
6. Teacher PD model — Alex has been doing 1:1 Zoom onboarding (too laborious). Exploring office hours, written docs, handbook.

Key Details

• Target: HS students (AP Bio alignment), some as young as 5th grade
• Upcoming study with Title I schools
• Schools have rated usefulness 3.9/5 so far
• IRB approval coming
• Looking for asynchronous partnerships (no direct support needed)
• PCK framework discussed — tailor support by teacher’s pedagogical capacity + content knowledge

Next Steps

• [ ] Cathy to recommend teachers for feedback (focus on Title I)

  Owner: Cathy

  From: Mar 23 meeting

• [ ] Cathy to review survey questions

  Owner: Cathy

  From: Mar 23 meeting

• [ ] Reuben to connect with Alex on cross-platform app + chatbot prompts

  Owner: Reuben

  From: Mar 23 meeting

Studio Services Roles (Mar 23)

• Facilitator: Cathy Chase
• Co-Facilitator: Josh Weiss
• Scribe: Joe Sherman
• Strategist: Reuben Thiessen

Updates

Mar 23, 2026: Initial Studio Services scoping meeting. Team presented project, discussed support needs. Strong equity angle — $1-2/experiment vs. thousands for traditional biotech. Reuben assigned as strategist. Key referrals: Nancy Waymack for school connections, New Valley Elementary (Santa Clara) as potential partner.

Apr 23–24, 2026: Cross-platform testing options scoping. Three paths under consideration:

1. Android Studio device streaming via Firebase — Spark plan: 30 min/mo per project free; Blaze plan: same free tier + $0.15/min over quota. Docs · Pricing
2. BrowserStack App Live — 30-min free trial. Link
3. Physical Android device — Samsung Galaxy A16 5G ~$125 renewed vs Pixel 10a ~$550 new. Open question from the team: do we need newest hardware just for testing, or is it out of scope?

Next step: Reuben to email Belinda Yeung re: React Native options (see action-items.md → belinda-rn-crispr).