BE 111 - Making Life: Genome Synthesis from Elements

Advances in life science research and biotechnology require manipulation and synthesis of DNA and DNA genomes. This course focuses on how to create DNA of increasing lengths, both synthesized in vitro and integrated in vivo. Starting from 5 natural elements (C, H, O, P, N), the course will cover technologies to make DNA from a single nucleotide to 200-nucleotide short oligos, to 1-kb individual genes, to 10-kb gene clusters, to 100-kb genomic fragments, to multi-megabase bacterial genomes, and further beyond to 50-mb mammalian chromosomes and ultimately multi-gigabase mammalian genomes. The course will also cover technologies required to amplify, sequence, and deliver these assembled DNAs ranging from the single gene to the whole genome scale. Topics are approached from experimental, theoretical, and industrial perspective.