Latest revision as of 11:09, 19 March 2008

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Week 7 Tuesday

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.

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.

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

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

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

@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 ==For next time==
-*Background reading / work for your team's project.
+#Check out the [http://parts.mit.edu/wiki/index.php/IAP2004:Polkadorks full report] for the Polkadork's IAP project.
+#Read the "Why Revive a Deadly Virus" article from the NY Times (get paper handout in class), and be prepared to discuss tomorrow.
 =<center>Week 7 Thursday</center>=
 ==Back in 1918, and again today?!?==
 *Special presentation by 20.902/947 students on construction of 1918 influenza?  Good, bad, or irresponsible research?


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