Synthetic Biology and the High School Curriculum: Glossary

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PDF of this page Abstraction -- Cloning -- Device -- an engineered genetic object that produces a human-defined function under specified conditions. Devices are produced by combining one or more standard biological parts DNA Synthesis -- Gel electrophoresis -- iGEM -- the international Genetically Engineered Machine competition in which teams of undergraduates build living systems from standardized, biological parts Inverter -- Measurement -- the quantitative assessment of a biological function. Measurements can be made of a part, device or system Open Reading Frame -- the DNA pattern of triplet sequences that encode a protein Part -- a nucleic acid-encoded biological function PCR -- a technique for amplifying DNA of known or unknown sequence. The reactions require only 4 components: DNA to be amplified, oligonucleotide primers to bind sequences flanking the target, dNTPs to polymerize into new DNA chains, and a heat stable polymerase in a buffered solution to carry out the synthesis reaction Plasmid -- Promoter -- sequence of DNA to which RNA polymerase binds for initiation of transcription Restriction Enzyme -- an enzyme that recognizes and cleaves a specific DNA sequence Ribosome Binding Site -- the sequence of RNA to which ribosome binds for initiation of translation Standardization -- Translation -- the reaction that converts RNA-templated information to protein. This reaction is catalyzed by ribosomes Transcription -- the reaction that converts of DNA-templated information to RNA. This reaction is catalyzed by one of several RNA polymerases Transcriptional Terminator -- a sequence of DNA that signals the RNA polymerase to cease the synthesis of RNA. Terminator sequences are often inverted repeats in the DNA that fold into stem-loop structures, leading the RNA polymerase to pause and leave the DNA it is transcribing Navigation Synthetic Biology and the High School Curriculum Synthetic Biology and the High School Curriculum: Lab 1 Synthetic Biology and the High School Curriculum: Lab 2 Synthetic Biology and the High School Curriculum: Lab 3 Synthetic Biology and the High School Curriculum: Lab 4 Synthetic Biology and the High School Curriculum: Essay Synthetic Biology and the High School Curriculum: Glossary Lab Report Rubric ( pdf) and Lab Report ScoreSheet ( pdf) Essay Rubric ( pdf) and Essay Scoresheet ( pdf) SynBio and the HS Curriculum Teacher's Resource Room: Teacher's resource room

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