Improving Understanding of the Role of Biology in Advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

The United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a comprehensive call to action for a better world adopted by the UN member states in 2015. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a framework for incorporating the urgency and practicality of the SDGs into curricula of all kinds. We infused a junior-level undergraduate cell and molecular biology course with assignments aligned with SDGs including “good health and well-being,” “gender equality,” and “responsible consumption and production” and evaluated written assignments for emergent themes. We also compared survey data from students in the SDG course and those in a traditional course and found that students in the SDG course reported an increase in their understanding of the role of their discipline in solving global problems and how current events related to their discipline. Students in the SDG course also reported improved understanding of a variety of social and environmental issues related to the SDGs. We conclude that incorporating SDGs into a cell and molecular biology course, a course usually focused primarily on cellular mechanisms and pathways, is feasible and supports the desired course outcome that students be able to interpret evidence and reflect on how scientific advancements can influence SDGs.