CH391L/S12
CH391L: Synthetic Biology
Spring 2012
Mondays 2-5 PM MBB 2.204
Instructor: Dr. Jeffrey Barrick <jbarrick AT cm DOT utexas PERIOD edu>
Course web page: The course web site on OpenWetWare.org http://openwetware.org/wiki/CH391L/S12 will host course handouts, readings, and assignments.
Motivation
The purpose of this course is to become familiar with the techniques, biological parts, accomplishments, problems, and challenges of synthetic biology. For the most part, we will focus on E. coli and yeast. Participants will be expected to individually contribute to OWW pages describing the history, development, and implementation details of engineered parts and organisms from the scientific literature. Then, they will be expected to create a proposal as part of a group with specific experimental and modeling details for using synthetic biology to solve an outstanding problem with technological or societal impact.
Assignments
Coursework will consist of in-class oral presentations on scientific papers or research proposals and a "written" component consisting of Wiki page edits on OpenWetWare. All participants in the course will be expected to provide feedback concerning the content of presentations and the content of Wiki pages.
Recent Changes to CH391/S12 Pages
Grading Rubric for Topic Writeups and Presentations
Synthetic Biology Seminars at UT
Upcoming
- Frances Arnold (Caltech) Gottlieb Lecture - Friday, Mar 2, 2:00 PM, ACE 2.302 webpage
Past
- Roger Tsien (UCSD) Burdette Lecture, 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry - Tuesday, Feb 7, 2:30 PM, SAC 1.402 webpage
- Douglas Fowler (U Washington) - Monday, Feb 6, 3:30 PM, WEL 2.122 webpage
- Michelle Chang (UC Berkeley) - Friday, Feb 3, 3:30 PM, WEL 2.122 webpage
- Erik Winfree (Caltech) - Thursday, Feb 2, 3:30 PM, ACES 6.304 webpage
- Lulu Qian (Caltech) - Wednesday, Feb. 1 4:00 PM, WEL 2.122 webpage
- Sang Yup Lee (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)) - Tuesday, Jan. 31 3:30pm, CPE 2.218 webpage
Synthetic Biology News
Here is a collection of recent news articles related to current synthetic biology. Please feel free to add anything you feel is relevant to the class and any appropriate comments or descriptions.
Topics
Introduction
Week 1: Introduction
Methods
(Approximately 3 class periods)
Week 2: Making or finding parts
- iGEM Registry
- Bioprospecting new parts using Metagenomics
- In vitro selection
- Ancestral Sequence Reconstruction
Week 3: Assembling parts into systems
- Restriction enzymes and BioBricks/BglBricks assembly standards (RFCs)
- PCR and advanced PCR techniques
