"[P]rovides open-access, modular, hands-on lessons in synthetic biology for secondary and post-secondary classrooms and laboratories"--Page [4] of book cover

Bill Gates recently told Wired that if he were a teenager today, he would be hacking biology. "If you want to change the world in some big way," he says, "that's where you should start-biological molecules." The most disruptive force on the planet resides in DNA. Biotech companies and academic researchers are just beginning to unlock the potential of piecing together life from scratch. Champions of synthetic biology believe that turning genetic code into Lego-like blocks to build never-before-seen organisms could solve the thorniest challenges in medicine, energy, and environmental protection. But as the hackers who cracked open the potential of the personal computer and the Internet proved, the most revolutionary discoveries often emerge from out-of-the-way places, forged by brilliant outsiders with few resources besides boundless energy and great ideas. In Biopunk, Marcus Wohlsen chronicles a growing community of DIY scientists working outside the walls of corporations and universities who are committed to democratizing DNA the way the Internet did information. The "biohacking" movement, now in its early, heady days, aims to unleash an outbreak of genetically modified innovation by making the tools and techniques of biotechnology accessible to everyone. Borrowing their idealism from the worlds of open-source software, artisinal food, Internet startups, and the Peace Corps, biopunks are devoted advocates for open-sourcing the basic code of life. They believe in the power of individuals with access to DNA to solve the world's biggest problems. You'll meet a new breed of hackers who aren't afraid to get their hands wet, from entrepreneurs who aim to bring DNA-based medical tools to the poorest of the poor to a curious tinkerer who believes a tub of yogurt and a jellyfish gene could protect the world's food supply. These biohackers include: -A duo who started a cancer drug company in their kitchen -A team who built an open-source DNA copy machine -A woman who developed a genetic test in her apartment for a deadly disease that had stricken her family Along with the potential of citizen science to bring about disruptive change, Wohlsen explores the risks of DIY bioterrorism, the possibility of genetic engineering experiments gone awry, and whether the ability to design life from scratch on a laptop might come sooner than we think.

Synthetic Biology -- A Primer (Revised Edition) presents an updated overview of the field of synthetic biology and the foundational concepts on which it is built. This revised edition includes new literature references, working and updated URL links, plus some new figures and text where progress in the field has been made.The book introduces readers to fundamental concepts in molecular biology and engineering and then explores the two major themes for synthetic biology, namely 'bottom-up' and 'top-down' engineering approaches. 'Top-down' engineering uses a conceptual framework of systematic design and engineering principles focused around the Design-Build-Test cycle and mathematical modelling. The 'bottom-up' approach involves the design and building of synthetic protocells using basic chemical and biochemical building blocks from scratch exploring the fundamental basis of living systems.Examples of cutting-edge applications designed using synthetic biology principles are presented, including: The book also describes the Internationally Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition, which brings together students and young researchers from around the world to carry out summer projects in synthetic biology. Finally, the primer includes a chapter on the ethical, legal and societal issues surrounding synthetic biology, illustrating the integration of social sciences into synthetic biology research.Final year undergraduates, postgraduates and established researchers interested in learning about the interdisciplinary field of synthetic biology will benefit from this up-to-date primer on synthetic biology.

This practical, hands-on guide shows how to develop a structured approach to biological data and the tools needed to analyze it. It's aimed at scientists and students learning computational approaches to biological data, as well as experienced biology researchers starting to use computers to handle data.

Raymond E. Barrett's Build-It-Yourself Science Laboratory is a classic book that took on an audacious task: to show young readers in the 1960s how to build a complete working science lab for chemistry, biology, and physics--and how to perform experiments with those tools. The experiments in this book are fearless and bold by today's standards--any number of the experiments might never be mentioned in a modern book for young readers! Yet, many from previous generations fondly remember how we as a society used to embrace scientific learning. This new version of Barrett's book has been updated for today's world with annotations and updates from Windell Oskay of Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, including extensive notes about modern safety practices, suggestions on where to find the parts you need, and tips for building upon Barrett's ideas with modern technology. With this book, you'll be ready to take on your own scientific explorations at school, work, or home.

With its highly developed capacity to detect patterns in data, Perl has become one of the most popular languages for biological data analysis. But if you're a biologist with little or no programming experience, starting out in Perl can be a challenge. Many biologists have a difficult time learning how to apply the language to bioinformatics. The most popular Perl programming books are often too theoretical and too focused on computer science for a non-programming biologist who needs to solve very specific problems.Beginning Perl for Bioinformatics is designed to get you quickly over the Perl language barrier by approaching programming as an important new laboratory skill, revealing Perl programs and techniques that are immediately useful in the lab. Each chapter focuses on solving a particular bioinformatics problem or class of problems, starting with the simplest and increasing in complexity as the book progresses. Each chapter includes programming exercises and teaches bioinformatics by showing and modifying programs that deal with various kinds of practical biological problems. By the end of the book you'll have a solid understanding of Perl basics, a collection of programs for such tasks as parsing BLAST and GenBank, and the skills to take on more advanced bioinformatics programming. Some of the later chapters focus in greater detail on specific bioinformatics topics. This book is suitable for use as a classroom textbook, for self-study, and as a reference.The book covers: Programming basics and working with DNA sequences and strings Debugging your code Simulating gene mutations using random number generators Regular expressions and finding motifs in data Arrays, hashes, and relational databases Regular expressions and restriction maps Using Perl to parse PDB records, annotations in GenBank, and BLAST output

Perfect for middle- and high-school students and DIY enthusiasts, this full-color guide teaches you the basics of biology lab work and shows you how to set up a safe lab at home. Features more than 30 educational (and fun) experiments.