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Funded by the National Science Foundation Future Manufacturing Program and Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program
Synthetic biology and biomanufacturing are buzzwords of an emerging bioeconomy based on our increasing ability to manipulate living systems. Join Vincent Noireaux, a founder of the annual Synthetic Biology course at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), to come up-to-the minute with a new, cell-free transcription-translation (TXTL) system he pioneered to engineer and manufacture bacteriophages in vitro.
This work is the latest in a distinguished lineage of (bacterio)phage research, which began at CSHL and provided the first tools to explore the molecular mechanics of living cells. The “Phage Course,” founded at CSHL in 1945 by Max Delbrück and Salvador Luria, trained the first two generations of molecular biologists. Al Hershey and Martha Chase’s “blender experiment,” conducted at CSHL in 1952, provided conclusive evidence that DNA is the molecule of heredity. Delbrück, Luria, and Hershey shared the 1969 Nobel Prize for this seminal work.
Now, phage therapy is used to control bacterial infections in medicine and agriculture. Phages provide a virtually limitless resource of bioactive materials that are increasingly exploited in biotechnology, nanotechnology, and bioremediation. In education, the SEA-PHAGES Program of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute is one of the most widely implemented infrastructures for course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). Cell-free TXTL is a logical next step for students who have been exposed to phage and/or bacterial genetics, providing them an opportunity to explore the use of phages in biomanufacturing.
Workshop participants will carry out cell-free TXTL with reporter genes (short DNAs) and whole bacteriophage genomes (long DNAs). Spotting assays and plate readers will be used to confirm the activity of engineered phages, as well as kinetics of phage assembly. Nanopore sequencing will be introduced as a method to confirm new phage constructs.
A $500 stipend will be provided. Travel funds available.
Vincent Noireaux, Ph.D. is Professor of Synthetic Biology and Biological Physics at the University of Minnesota. His lab uses cell-free transcription-translation (TXTL) to produce proteins in vitro and to engineer biochemical systems such as gene circuits, phages, and synthetic cells. Dr. Noireaux earned a BS in Applied Physics from the University of Tours (France), his Ph.D. at the Curie Institute in Paris, and he did a postdoc at The Rockefeller University in New York City. He is co-instructor of the influential Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory postgraduate training course on Synthetic Biology.
Steven Bowden, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of Food Safety Microbiology at the University of Minnesota. His lab studies foodborne pathogens such as Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, and Escherichia coli, and the use of bacteriophages to detect and control these bacteria. Dr. Bowden earned a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Birmingham (UK) and his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge (UK). He held postdoctoral positions at the Quadram Institute (UK), University of Cambridge (UK), Nara Institute of Science and Technology (Japan), and University of Minnesota.
Anna Feitzinger, Ph.D. is Assistant Director for Science of the DNA Learning Center of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a science center devoted entirely to public genetics education. She applies her expertise in quantitative biology and biochemistry to bridging the gap in bioinformatics education at the pre-college and college level. She is spearheading the use of Oxford Nanopore sequencing in education, with the dream that sequencing technology will be available to students in classrooms worldwide. She received a B.A. in Chemistry from the City University of New York, Hunter College, and a Ph.D. in Biology at University of California, Davis.
Dave Micklos, D.Sc. is founder and Executive Director of the DNA Learning Center of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, which encompasses five science outreach labs in metro New York/New Jersey totaling 43,000 ft2. Each year, more than 500,000 students use textbooks or commercial lab kits developed by the DNALC, analyze DNA sequences using DNALC bioinformatics tools, or do experiments at the DNALC or an allied science center. Dave is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and his work has been recognized with prizes from the Genetics Society of America, Charles A. Dana Foundation, American Society for Cell Biology Award, and Science Magazine.
Download Schedule (PDF)
| Monday, March 4 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 8:30 AM | Coffee and Sign-In | |
| 9:00 AM | Participant and Staff Introduction | |
| 9:15 AM | LAB | Cell-free Expression of Reporter Genes (Fluorescent Proteins) |
| 11:00 AM | CONCEPT | Introduction to Cell-free Expression |
| 12:00 PM | LUNCH | |
| 1:00 PM | LAB | Cell-free Biomanufacturing of T7 Phage: Infect Host Cells with Biomanufactured Phages |
| 3:00 PM | LAB | Results of Cell-free Expression of Reporter Genes |
| 4:00 PM | LAB | Cell-free Biomanufacturing of T7 Phage: Set Up |
| 5:00 PM | DISMISS | |
| Tuesday, March 5 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 8:30 AM | Coffee | |
| 9:00 AM | CONCEPT | Assays for Detecting Active Phage |
| 10:00 AM | LAB | Cell-free Biomanufacturing of T7 Phage: Set up Spotting Assays |
| 11:00 AM | LAB | Cell-free Biomanufacturing of T7 Phage: Assay Infection Kinetics on Plate Reader |
| 12:00 pM | LUNCH | |
| 1:00 PM | CONCEPT | Bacteriophage Biology |
| 2:00 PM | LAB | Cell-free Phage Reactions with Varying Parameters |
| 3:00 PM | LAB | Cell-free Biomanufacturing of T7 Phage: Analyze Spotting Assays |
| 5:00 PM | DISMISS | |
| Wednesday, March 6 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 8:30 AM | Coffee | |
| 9:00 AM | LAB | Cell-free Phage Reactions with Varying Parameters: Set up Spotting Assays |
| 10:00 AM | LAB | Cell-free Phage Reactions with Varying Parameters: Assay Infection Kinetics on Plate Reader |
| 12:00 AM | LUNCH | |
| 1:00 PM | CONCEPT | Oxford Nanopore Sequencing of Phage |
| 2:00 PM | LAB | Cell-free Phage Reactions with Varying Parameters: Analyze Spotting Assays |
| 3:00 PM | SURVEY | |
| 4:00 PM | DISMISS | |
Biological Sciences Center
Room 320 (Learning lab)
1445 Gortner Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55108
Funded by grants from the National Science Foundation:
Future Manufacturing #2228971; Improving Undergraduate STEM Education #1821657
