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

Subsections of Week 01

Lecture — Principles & Practices

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.

HTGAA lecture

Homework — Principles & Practices

Warning

Document your work clearly — sketches, screenshots, notes, even failed attempts (and how you addressed them).

Class Assignment

  1. Describe a biological engineering application or tool you want to develop and why. This can tie to your eventual final project or current research.
  2. Define governance/policy goals to ensure your application contributes to an ethical future (e.g., safety, equity, autonomy). Break big goals into sub‑goals.
  3. 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.”
  4. Score each action (1–3; 1=best) against your policy goals (or a framework of your own). Use the matrix below as inspiration.
  5. Prioritize one option (or a combo) and explain your trade‑offs, assumptions, and uncertainties.

Governance scoring matrix

Weekly Assignment

Reflect on any ethical concerns that arose this week. Propose governance actions you think are appropriate to address them. Include this on your class page for Week 1.

Before Next Class

  • Open a personal Notion page (covered in Recitation) and submit the public link via this Google Form.
  • Complete the Principles & Practices assignment above.

Recitation — Principles & Practices

Slides (Updated Feb 5):

Recording (Updated Feb 7):

Lab — Pipetting

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.

Concepts You’ll Learn

  • Units & conversions
  • Serial dilutions
  • Pipetting proficiency

Preparation & Protocol

  • Lab Prep — materials and notes (posted after lab)
  • Lab Protocol — HTGAA 2025 Pipetting Lab (Google Doc)
Lab Prep PCR tube strip Lab Protocol (Google Doc) Lab protocol

Inventory

Subsections of Lab

Lab Prep — Week 1 (Pipetting)

Info

Lab Prep and Lab Answer Keys will be shared here after the lab.
Relevant segments of the recitation recording will be updated here after the class.

Reading & Resources — Week 1

Lab‑specific

Governance & ethics