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=Boston Leadership Institute=

Session 2 exit survey

Welcome to the Boston Leadership Institute and the Research in Biotechnology and Synthetic Biology course.
In the early 1970s biologists such as Paul Berg, Herbert Boyer, Stanley Cohen and Rudolph Jaenisch figured out how to move DNA from one organism into the genes of another. This was the beginning of genetic engineering. People had long been effecting the genomes of animals and plants through artificial selection. Now, however, we could directly effect the genomes of bacteria, frogs and mice and eventually many plants and animals. Now, we could transform organisms into something new. Four decades later we have genetically modified rice, tomatoes, cows, bacteria and many other useful organisms that produce our foods and medicine.

As the twentieth century waned and the new millennium began, a group of engineers, people who create machines using gears and silicon chips decided that they could use genes to create biological machines. Engineers and scientists such as Jay Keasling, Tom Knight, George Church, Chris Voight, Drew Endy and Craig Venter have applied principles of engineering to molecular genetics in creating the new field of synthetic biology. Unlike genetic engineering, synthetic biology seeks to standardize genetic parts to make them usable in the way that gears and resistors are. Synthetic biologists did not limit themselves to manipulating existing genes, they actually began to create genetic devices that when inserted into cells give us bacteria and yeast that can count, make binary decisions, and produce chemicals or change color under certain circumstances. They have also begun to rewrite the genetic code and make cells that have minimal genomes. They have turned genes and cells into machines.

The Project:
In this course we will explore these exciting fields. It would not be possible to make our own synthetic organisms in three weeks. Instead, we will practice some of the techniques that genetic engineers and synthetic biologists use. We will transform bacteria by inserting a gene. We will make copies of DNA and isolate it using techniques such as PCR and gel electrophoresis. We will explore bioinformatics that is available on the web. We'll consider some of the ethical issues that arise when humans play with nature and tinker with genes. Engineering is different than science so we will explore the "engineering method" and some of the synthetic biology work that is being done.

For projects you have three options: 1. Design a genetic machine that can help make our lives better. You won't actually be able to build this machine here and that's actually good. It will allow you to dream big and really explore what synthetic biology is about. And who knows, maybe you'll be able to make your dream a reality when you are in college or beyond. 2. Investigate an area of current synthetic biology research. Become an expert in a topic such as bacterial computing or biofuels. Then, teach the rest of us about the field. 3. Do shorter versions of both options 1 and 2

You should post your project to your wiki page and then create and present a 15 minute PowerPoint to educate the rest of us.

For more information check out the Assignment, Examples, Resources and Activities pages using the menu to the right.

While you are doing your project, we'll take time to remember that while learning biology is fun, being in camp should not be the same as being in school so we'll have some field trips and play some (biology related) games.

Your Pages:
On the navigation menu to the right you will see your name. I've created pages for each of you. To create the page I had to enter some test. Right now each page says "Hello I'm" (you can change this). I'd like you to create a little bio and (if allowed) post a picture of yourself. You can use this page to store information such as links or things you've written. Eventually, you will present your project on this page as well as upload a Power Point. These pages will exist for a few years (or maybe forever?) so you can continue to work on the page and project in the future and include the link in your resume and applications. This wiki is set up so that anyone can access it, but only we can edit it.

For your Bio we'd like to know some things about you. Where are you from? Why are you here? How did your interest in science/genetics/biology get started? What do you want to do in the future? What science experiences have you had in school or elsewhere? Any hobbies, sports or special interests? What have you done that might surprise us?

Resources:
Also on the menu you will see pages for the some of the experiments and resources we will use. I'll start you off with some good links but as you investigate and find things, please post them here.

Activity page
Link on the activity page for our schedule, Power Points, research topics, and lab procedures.