Course Description: Synthetic biology is the engineering of organisms to create new abilities or redesign existing systems that will help solve problems in the fields of medicine, sustainability, manufacturing, agriculture, and more. iGEM at Berkeley is a synthetic biology-focused club that provides students the opportunity to develop their knowledge of synthetic biology and participate in student-run hands-on research projects, both in the wetlab and drylab. Offered through Berkeley’s iGEM club, this course will teach students hands-on wetlab techniques through the basic cloning workflow. Students will learn about the science behind basic lab techniques in lecture and perform those skills in the next week’s lab.

Course Structure: There will be a one-hour lecture Mondays 7-8 pm and students will be placed in a lab section either Wednesdays 6-8 PM or Thursdays 6-8 PM

Grading: Grading is based on a pass/no pass.

Weight of Requirements: 50% attendance, 50% assignment completion (25% lab notebooks, 25% quiz assignments)

Attendance: Attendance for 75% of all classes is considered passing. If you need to be excused from attending, please email us 24 hours in advance with a reasonable explanation. Accommodations will be made regarding extenuating circumstances.
Assignments: Assignments are graded on completion/effort. 100% of assignments completed is considered passing.

Syllabus: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AJ8pMN8HI_zcxHgnUkGoMCL51Dhj33qfQU97YQUMiXc/edit?usp=share_link

Because we have limited space and resources, enrollment in this course is application-based. We do not expect you to have previous hands-on lab or synbio experience, but we recommend you to have a basic knowledge of biology and an interest in synbio research. The preferred application deadline is 1/28/23 11:59 PM and the final deadline is 2/01/23 11:59 PM. We will notify you if you have been placed on the roster via email on 2/02/23 and our first class will be on 2/06/23 at 7 PM!