Raphael Aca — HTGAA Spring 2026
About me
Greetings from Atlanta, Georgia! My name is Raphael Aca, and I am a Biology undergrad student at the Georgia Institute of Technology. I have had a passion for synthetic biology ever since I transformed my first bacteria to glow in my freshman year of high school. Today, I continue my passion for SynBio in my undergrad research, classes, clubs, etc. In the future, I hope to obtain a PhD and continue to work in SynBio in topics such as de-extinction, astrobiology, bioremediation, biomedical engineering, etc. When I’m not thinking about SynBio, I partake in hobbies such as weightlifting, video games, or gardening.
Contact info
Homework
- Week 1 HW: Principles and Practices
- Week 2 HW: DNA Read, Write, & Edit
- Week 3 HW: Lab Automation
- Week 4 HW: Protein Design Part I
- Week 5 HW: Protein Design Part II
- Week 6 HW: Genetic Circuits Part I: Assembly Technologies
- Week 7 HW: Genetic Circuits Part II
- Week 9 HW: Cell-Free Systems
- Week 10 HW: Advanced Imaging & Measurement Technology
- Week 11 HW: Bioproduction & Cloud Labs
- Week 12 HW: Building Genomes
- Week 13 HW: AI, SynBio, and Scaling Health Innovation (ARPA-H)
- Week 14 HW: Bio Design & Bio Fabrication
Labs
- Week 1 Lab: Pipetting
- Week 2 Lab: Lab DNA Gel Art
- Week 3 Lab: Opentrons Art
- Week 4 Lab: Protein Design Part I
- Week 5 Lab: Protein Design Part II
- Week 6 Lab: Gibson Assembly
- Week 7 Lab: Neuromorphic Circuits
- Week 9 Lab: Cell-Free Systems
- Week 10 Lab: Mass Spectrometry
- Week 11 Lab: Introduction to Cloud Laboratories
- Week 12 Lab: Bioproduction of Beta-Carotene and Lycopene