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1. Intro to Synthetic Biology

   Sheets, Michael; Atkinson, Joshua (June 2023, Engineering Biology Research Consortium)

   About the slide set The slides are divided into sections (“Concepts”) including: What is engineering/synthetic biology? (Concept 1-1); the “Design, Build, Test, & Learn” cycle (Concept 1-2), Core Tools for engineering biology (Concepts 1-3 and 1-4), and finally exploring Impacts & Applications of engineering biology (Concept 1-5). The slides can be used as a complete lecture, or any concept topic can be used to supplement existing material. For example, Concept 1-1 could be used to introduce synthetic biology to professionals outside the field, or the Concept 1-5 Data Science section could be modified to show the intersections of the field in a computer science course. The slides are available to use under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-SA. The goal of these slides is to provide free, accessible, and modular explanations of key Engineering Biology topics. EBRC provides this curricular module under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 license, which allows free use in noncommercial settings with credit for the material given to EBRC and the content authors. By downloading these resources, you agree to these terms. If you are interested in using EBRC material in a commercial setting or have other usage questions, please contact us at education@ebrc.org. The slides were created by Michael Sheets (Boston University) and Joshua Atkinson (Univ. of Southern California), with support from the EBRC Education Working Group. Audience These lecture slides are designed for educators looking to incorporate current synthetic & engineering biology practices into their teaching material. These slides were designed with a target audience of undergraduate and graduate students, but could be adapted for high school students (and coupled with BioBuilder material, for a great experience). Recommended student knowledge: “biology 101” level, generally how DNA & cells work Learning Objectives You will be able to answer: - What is synthetic/engineering biology? - How can I Design, Build, Test, and Learn from biological systems? - What are the Core Tools of engineering biology? - How and where can engineering biology be applied to positively impact society? You will have: Planned a design cycle to approach a current problem Learned about engineering biology tools that can help you develop your idea Discovered the many sectors that engineering biology can positively impact 

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2. Introduction to Engineering Biology: A Conceptual Framework for Teaching Synthetic Biology

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.3c00194  

   Sheets, Michael_B; Atkinson, Joshua_T; Styczynski, Mark_P; Aurand, Emily_R; EBRC_Education_&_Engagement_Working_Group (June 2023, ACS Synthetic Biology)
3. Fast track to structural biology

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-021-00814-y  

   Clementi, Cecilia (November 2021, Nature Chemistry)
4. A Concept Map of Evolutionary Biology to Promote Meaningful Learning in Biology

   https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2019.81.2.79  

   Apodaca, María José; McInerney, Joseph D.; Sala, Osvaldo E.; Katinas, Liliana; Crisci, Jorge V. (January 2019, The American Biology Teacher)
5. Chemical Biology Framework to Illuminate Proteostasis

   https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-biochem-013118-111552  

   Sebastian, Rebecca M.; Shoulders, Matthew D. (June 2020, Annual Review of Biochemistry)

   null (Ed.)

   Protein folding in the cell is mediated by an extensive network of >1,000 chaperones, quality control factors, and trafficking mechanisms collectively termed the proteostasis network. While the components and organization of this network are generally well established, our understanding of how protein-folding problems are identified, how the network components integrate to successfully address challenges, and what types of biophysical issues each proteostasis network component is capable of addressing remains immature. We describe a chemical biology–informed framework for studying cellular proteostasis that relies on selection of interesting protein-folding problems and precise researcher control of proteostasis network composition and activities. By combining these methods with multifaceted strategies to monitor protein folding, degradation, trafficking, and aggregation in cells, researchers continue to rapidly generate new insights into cellular proteostasis. 

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