Quantitative Biology of the Living Cell
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Instructor
Prof Jenna Rickus BMED 2029 rickus@purdue.edu office hours: Friday 12:30 - 2:00
Course Description
In this class you will conduct a cellular design project. You will create a design to engineer cells to accomplish a task or solve a problem. You will define the problem that you will work on. In class we will explore and apply the necessary topics and models applying your previous and current coursework in thermodynamics, kinetics, transport etc that will be necessary to achieve your goals. The particular topics will be driven by the project.
All grades are posted in WebCT
General Announcements
Primary Steps to the Design Process
- define the problem
- create specific and quantifiable design criteria
- quantify the potential impact/market
- summary of prior art
- generate a novel solution to meets some or all of the design criteria
- create a detailed, quantitative design of your system
- model the system to predict performace
- compare model predictions to design criteria and prior art
- build the system
- test the system
in this class you will conduct steps 1-8
In Class Activities
Aug 23 GROUP BRAINSTORM: Define the problem(s) that cells face and must find solutions to in their native environments. What are the design criteria? What are the constraints? What are the size scales? What are the processes that occur and how do they relate to topics of thermodynamics, kinetics, and transport? We will have a group discussion following. You do not have to turn anything in for this, but the thought process will be useful for the writing assignment below.
Defining the Problem The class brainstormed on large problems that they would like to be part of a solution for. some of these included: famine, malnutrition, athletic injury, cancer, environmental toxins from huricane Katrina, lack of organs for transplants, lack of sustainable processes for producing retail products, lack of heathy foods that taste good, antibiotic resistence
The class decided on 2 problems
Team 1 - Environmental Toxins Related to Katrina
Team 2 - Nutrition and Famine
Assignments
- Assignment 1 due Aug 30 in class
Class Discussion Board
post any comments, questions etc. here
