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ABSTRACT Deficiencies in knowledge about water quality prevent or obscure progress on a panoply of public health problems globally. Specifically, such lack of information frustrates effective and efficient government regulation to protect the public from contaminated drinking water. In this Practical Paper, we lay out how recent scientific innovations in synthetic biology mean that rapid, at-home tests based on biosensor technology could be used to improve water quality monitoring and regulation, using the example of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Lead and Copper Rule currently under revision. Biosensor tests can be used by non-scientists and the information that biosensor tests generate is relatively cheaper and faster than standard laboratory techniques. As such, they have the potential to make it possible to increase the number and frequency of samples tested. This, in turn, could facilitate more accurate compliance monitoring, justify more protective substantive standards, and more efficiently identify infrastructure priorities. Biosensors can also empower historically underrepresented communities by facilitating the visibility of inequities in lead exposure, help utilities to ensure safe water delivery, and guide policy for identifying and replacing lead-bearing water infrastructure, thereby improving public health. As the technology matures, biosensors have great potential to reveal water quality issues, thereby reducing public health burdens. 

Abstract Synthetic biology allows us to reuse, repurpose, and reconfigure biological systems to address society’s most pressing challenges. Developing biotechnologies in this way requires integrating concepts across disciplines, posing challenges to educating students with diverse expertise. We created a framework for synthetic biology training that deconstructs biotechnologies across scales—molecular, circuit/network, cell/cell-free systems, biological communities, and societal—giving students a holistic toolkit to integrate cross-disciplinary concepts towards responsible innovation of successful biotechnologies. We present this framework, lessons learned, and inclusive teaching materials to allow its adaption to train the next generation of synthetic biologists.