This course is a survey of impactful research and techniques related to genetic engineering for therapeutic/industrial purposes. Primary assignments are reading scientific papers as case studies of techniques discussed in lectures. Students will showcase what they learned in a final project consisting of a synthetic biology research proposal or create a genetic cassette-based tool that solves a problem in synbio research.

Some lectures will be given by the undergraduate facilitators, others by graduate students or faculty. Each takes a brief view at the syllabus topics and dives deeper into a case study of choice, which is assigned as a reading in the lecture before.

Attendance not taken, however in class activity counts towards participation grade.

For any questions, please email berkeleybiohackers@gmail.com. It is highly recommended that students have some exposure to the most popular techniques in genetic engineering and molecular biology research to provide some background on the techniques discussed in the papers. These students will make the most out of the readings and final projects. However, these are not hard requirements, and anyone with passion is encouraged to apply- be aware that readings may take longer and require learning on your own time if you have not had any major exposure in the past.