Week 01 — Principles & Practices

Lab scene

This week lays the foundation for ethics, safety, and governance in biotechnology — and we get hands-on in lab basics.

  • Info Recording (Feb 4, 2025): • Session 1 (before class end, ~3h) — Zoom • Session 2 (after class end, ~50m) — Zoom Slides will be shared after class.
  • Warning Document your work clearly — sketches, screenshots, notes, even failed attempts (and how you addressed them). Class Assignment Describe a biological engineering application or tool you want to develop and why. This can tie to your eventual final project or current research. Define governance/policy goals to ensure your application contributes to an ethical future (e.g., safety, equity, autonomy). Break big goals into sub‑goals. Propose at least three governance actions across different actors (e.g., researchers, companies, federal agencies). For each action, consider: Purpose — what changes are you proposing? Design — what’s needed for it to work? Assumptions — what might you have wrong? Risks of failure & “success” — unintended consequences if it “works.” Score each action (1–3; 1=best) against your policy goals (or a framework of your own). Use the matrix below as inspiration. Prioritize one option (or a combo) and explain your trade‑offs, assumptions, and uncertainties.
  • Slides (Updated Feb 5): Google Slides Recording (Updated Feb 7): Zoom
  • Objective Welcome to HTGAA! This first lab introduces pipetting and serial dilutions, foundational for precise liquid handling and solution preparation. This is a one‑day lab with two mini‑protocols (mixing colors and dilutions). By the end, you’ll confidently use pipettes, prepare solutions to target concentrations, and troubleshoot common errors. Tip This is a one‑day lab covering mixing colors and dilutions. By the end you’ll confidently use pipettes and prepare solutions at desired concentrations.
  • Lab‑specific Unit conversion & significant figures — Crash Course Intro to pipetting — YouTube Governance & ethics Protein Design Meets Biosecurity — Church & Baker (Science, 2024) Science.org Synthetic Genomics: Options for Governance — J. Craig Venter Institute US Presidential Commission on the Study of Bioethical Issues — “New Directions” report WHO Global guidance framework — Mitigating biorisks Bold Goals for U.S. Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing — White House (2023) National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology (interim) — U.S. Senate iGEM Safety Hub — 2020 and 2023 Responsibility Handbook for Community Biology Spaces — Genspace DIYBio Ask a Biosafety Expert — ask.diybio.org Rooftop Solar & the Four Levers of Social Change — Ethan Zuckerman