2020(S08) Lecture:week 7

= Week 7 Tuesday =

Project Selection Status?

 * Brief report of each team's project selection status.
 * Brainiacs
 * Environmentoids
 * BioMagik the Gathering
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 * Home Computer
 * Tissue, I hardly know you!
 * Bioterror be gone

Blinkers!!!

 * Working in your project teams, develop a design for a genetically encoded ring oscillator. Your team's written design portfolio should include (a) a high level system diagram, (b) a full devices and parts list, (c) a plan for synthesizing or acquiring all necessary DNA parts, (d) a plan for testing the most important components of your oscillator, (e) a plan for assembling all parts or devices into a final system.  You have 1 hour.  Your team's DNA synthesis budget is $1000.  Upload your team's design portfolio before leaving class here (please use the Blinkers link at the very bottom of the page).
 * NOTE: This activity features an "All questions answered" work environment. Ask questions.
 * HINT: Your DNA synthesis budget may not be large enough to pay for synthesis of all the parts needed to make an oscillator.
 * HINT: Your team may not have enough time to design everything needed to make a ring oscillator.
 * HINT: Spend 2 minutes right now thinking about all the things that need to come together over the next hour for your team to be successful.

For next time

 * Based on your experiences working in small teams thus far this term [from Paper Airplanes, to Legophoresis, to today's Blinkers] how do you think that your team should best organize itself for the next phase of your project, leading up to the technical specification? Write down your thoughts and be ready to discuss with your mates, as useful [if you would like guidance, let the variable X represent the magnitude of your thoughts when they are encoded on paper. 1 paragraph < X < 1 page].  Upload your assignment here.

= Week 7 Studio =

Part 1: Debrief of yesterday's Ring Oscillator craziness

 * 1) Recap yesterday's excercise. What did folks think?
 * 2) Are there tools or methods for breaking down a complicated problem into simpler parts?
 * 3) Walk through the example of abstraction in synthetic biology
 * 4) Check out the Polkadorks animation; can we quickly draw a device-level system diagram?
 * 5) Question. How can you check if everybody on your team understands what is going on?

Part 2: Get busy!

 * Start working on your team's project.

For next time

 * 1) Check out the full report for the Polkadork's IAP project.
 * 2) Read the "Why Revive a Deadly Virus" article from the NY Times (get paper handout in class), and be prepared to discuss tomorrow.

= Week 7 Thursday =

Back in 1918, and again today?!?

 * Special presentation by 20.902/947 students on construction of 1918 influenza? Good, bad, or irresponsible research?