2020(S09) Lecture:week 4: Difference between revisions
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==Challenge: <font color = blue>Backyard Biology</font color>== | ==Challenge: <font color = blue>Backyard Biology</font color>== | ||
===Part 1: Cookin' up some DNA in your kitchen=== | ===Part 1: Cookin' up some DNA in your kitchen=== | ||
CHANGE TO [http://www.ncsu.edu/kenanfellows/2002/pligon/biotech/labs/strawberry.html] | |||
#Pour ~50 ml of water into a small white cup | #Pour ~50 ml of water into a small white cup | ||
#Add 1 tsp wheat germ and mix with a coffee stirrer for 3 minutes | #Add 1 tsp wheat germ and mix with a coffee stirrer for 3 minutes | ||
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[[Image:lego4.png|300px|right|thumb|Once gel has solidified, remove Lego™s, tape and add DNA with glycerin/red food coloring]] | [[Image:lego4.png|300px|right|thumb|Once gel has solidified, remove Lego™s, tape and add DNA with glycerin/red food coloring]] | ||
<br style="clear:both" /> | <br style="clear:both" /> | ||
=='''Homework''' before tomorrow's studio session== | =='''Homework''' before tomorrow's studio session== | ||
You can find the term "biohacking" and "DIYbio" (for "Do It Yourself Biology) increasingly tossed into conversations and presentations. There are examples ranging from [http://www.aboutus.org/BioHackery.com "how to" websites] to an [http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/comm-vestspeech-0608.html MIT commencement address.] Begin your follow-up work from today's lecture by '''reading Freeman Dyson's 2007 New York Times article''' in which he writes about [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/20370 "our biotech future."] He foresees a domestication of biotechnology that will dominate our lives for the next 50 years. He foresees an "era of Open Source biology (in which) the magic of genes will be available to anyone with the skill and imagination to use it." | You can find the term "biohacking" and "DIYbio" (for "Do It Yourself Biology) increasingly tossed into conversations and presentations. There are examples ranging from [http://www.aboutus.org/BioHackery.com "how to" websites] to an [http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/comm-vestspeech-0608.html MIT commencement address.] Begin your follow-up work from today's lecture by '''reading Freeman Dyson's 2007 New York Times article''' in which he writes about [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/20370 "our biotech future."] He foresees a domestication of biotechnology that will dominate our lives for the next 50 years. He foresees an "era of Open Source biology (in which) the magic of genes will be available to anyone with the skill and imagination to use it." | ||
Revision as of 20:18, 2 January 2009
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Week 4 Tuesday
"The new techniques, which permit combination of genetic information from very different organisms, place us in an area of biology with many unknowns."
Summary Statement of the Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA Molecules
Berg et al PNAS 1975 72:1981.
- Is DNA (the physical material) inherently dangerous?
- What makes it (or could make it) dangerous?
- How can you tell if it’s dangerous?
- Are there special places that DNA (the physical material) should be kept?
- Are there rules that can be enforced about its manipulation?
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If you've spent time in a research lab, there's a good chance you've worked with DNA there. But is that the only place DNA can be manipulated? What if the techniques and facilities for manipulating DNA were available to everyone? What if they already are? If you've never spent time working with DNA, then you're in for a treat. Today you'll isolate and purify some DNA using materials found in most any kitchen or garage. And from this challenge, you'll be better able to judge the capabilities and possibilities of "amateur bioengineering." |
Challenge: Backyard Biology
Part 1: Cookin' up some DNA in your kitchen
CHANGE TO [1]
- Pour ~50 ml of water into a small white cup
- Add 1 tsp wheat germ and mix with a coffee stirrer for 3 minutes
- Add one glop of liquid soap
- Mix a little bit every 1 minute for 5 minutes
- Add 1/4 tsp meat tenderizer and mix
- Add 1/2 tsp baking soda and mix
- Allow the slurry to settle and pour some of the top liquid into a clear cup
- Dribble some rubbing alcohol down the side of the cup so it sits on top of but does not mix with the wheat germ liquid
- Over the next 5 minutes watch to see what happens at the interface between the wheat germ liquid and the rubbing alcohol
- Try to spool or scoop out some of the goop with a paper clip hook or eyedropper
Part 2: Lego™phoresis
Cast your gel
This design is a variation of the one shown in MAKE magazine, volume 07
Materials
- small plastic container
- scissors
- masking tape
- legos
- agar-agar
- running buffer
- 500 ml bottled water
- pinch of table salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- Aquarium pH kit to check pH ~7.5
- adjust with more water or baking soda as needed
- microwave
Note: you'll cast your gel this time and run the DNA through it next time.
Design
Homework before tomorrow's studio session
You can find the term "biohacking" and "DIYbio" (for "Do It Yourself Biology) increasingly tossed into conversations and presentations. There are examples ranging from "how to" websites to an MIT commencement address. Begin your follow-up work from today's lecture by reading Freeman Dyson's 2007 New York Times article in which he writes about "our biotech future." He foresees a domestication of biotechnology that will dominate our lives for the next 50 years. He foresees an "era of Open Source biology (in which) the magic of genes will be available to anyone with the skill and imagination to use it." Based on your backyard biology experience today, what do you think of the present and future possibilities of biohacking? As a point of comparison you might consider the hacking of the iPhone. Here are some other questions you might consider as you think about this topic:
- Who can hack computers and who can hack biology?
- Are there speed, safety, and training considerations?
- Do you expect to see garage biotechnologists in your lifetime? Do they already exist? Should they?
Decide for yourself if biohacking is confirmed, plausible or busted and write-up your reflections. You might include thoughts on today's challenge, on Freemon Dyson's vision, on what you imagine the DIYbio movement will look like in 2 years or in 20. Your paragraph can be added to your "Personal Design Portfolio" in the the homework dropbox. before tomorrow's studio session, calling your assignment: FirstInitial_LastName_PDP_6.doc, for example: J_Watson_PDP_6.doc
Week 4 Studio
Part 1: Nip and Tuck
In today's studio, project teams will be assigned. These teams are loosely grouped around common interests, be they project areas or project approaches. Once you have assembled into your groups, be sure to introduce yourselves, exchange contact information and figure out which interests landed you on the same team. Then you can use the rest of the studio time to work on your team's "facebook" page and your "team contract." The required content for each is:
Team Facebook Page
- a name for your team
- the names of your team members
- the names of your team mentors (20.902 students who will be the go-to folks for questions and guidance on your project)
- what challenge your team will address
- what ideas you have agreed to work on (at least 3, no more than 5)
As you develop your ideas, you might also want to keep in mind the requirements for your "3 ideas presentations" that will take place in two weeks. Think about what you will have to present, and how you would like to present it. Maybe the work could/should be divided up or maybe you need to hash out ideas on the spot together. You will use the time today and all of next week studio time to make real progress on these high level questions about your project.
Team Contract
These team building tools have been developed by MIT's Gordon Engineering Leadership Program, appreciating that teamwork and leadership underlie nearly all successful designs.
Start by reading (independently) this short article by Patricia Philips that describes the different kinds of teams that exist and some common stages that teams go through. Once everyone has finished reading, discuss the article as a group, paying particular attention to team and individual roles and responsibilities as they may relate to your particular project and team.
Then as a team, work through the following questions in order to form your team contract. You can work through the questions fast or slow, all of them or just a few. After considering these questions, write a team contract that you can all agree to work with for the rest of this term.
Questions To Consider To Create a Team Contract
These questions have been adapted from Lori Breslow's work at MIT for the subject, 15.279.
Part 1: Goals
- What are the goals of the team?
- What are your personal goals for this assignment?
- What kind of obstacles might you encounter in reaching your goals?
- What happens if all of you decide you want to get an “A,” but because of time constraints, one person decides that a “B” will be acceptable?
- Is it acceptable for two or three team members to do more work in order to get an “A” ?
Part 2: Meeting Norms
- Do you have a preference for when meetings will be held? Did you have a preference for where they should be held?
- How often do you think the team will need to meet outside of class? How long do you anticipate meetings will be?
- Will it be O.K. for team members to eat during meetings?
Part 3: Work Norms
- How much time per week do you anticipate it will take to make the project successful?
- How will work be distributed?
- How will deadlines be set?
- How will you decide who should do which tasks?
- What will happen if someone does not follow through on a commitment (e.g., missing a deadline, not showing up to meetings)?
- How will the work be reviewed?
- What happens if people have different opinions on the quality of the work?
- What will you do if one or more team members are not doing their share of the work?
- How will you deal with different work habits of individual team members (e.g., some people like to get assignments done as early as possible; others like to work under the pressure of a deadline)?
Part 4: Decision Making
- Do you need 100% approval of each team member before making a decision?
- What will you do if one of you fixates on a particular idea?
Before you leave today, upload your Team Facebook Page and your Team Contract to the "Project Development Notebook" in the the homework dropbox., calling your assignments: TeamName_PDN_1.doc and TeamName_PDN_2.doc, for example: EauDcoli_PDN_1.doc Please make sure that every member of your team has a copy of the Facebook Page and the Team Contract.
Week 4 Thursday
Challenge: Making Biology Easier to Engineer
FooCamper's Guide
Optional Challenge: Lego™phoresis (con't)
Materials
- steel wire
- large plastic container
- loading buffer
- 1/4 tsp glycerine/glycerol
- a few drops red food coloring
- DNA you isolated from wheatgerm
- remaining running buffer from part 1
- 9V batteries
- Aquarium antimicrobial (ideally 2.3% methylene blue diluted 1:100 in bottled water) to stain DNA in gel after run
