Taught by Professor Milton Muldrow Jr., of Wilmington University, this course is an introduction to synthetic biology, covering its uses in medicine, agriculture, environmental science, and other areas, while also looking ahead to truly science fiction-like applications to molecular computers, space travel, and the creation of alien life-forms. Dr. Muldrow also addresses the potential misuse of synthetic biology, which could have devastating consequences for humanity and the biosphere.
Synthetic Biology: Life’s Extraordinary New Worlds
Synthetic biology gives scientists the power to redesign nature and even create life. Learn how it works.
Rated 1 out of
5
by
Theo27 from
Synthetic Biology Life’s Extraordinary New Worlds
I bought this about a month ago and quite frankly I was hugely disappointed. The lecturer strands stock still and in a relatively monotonous voice appears to just be reading his topic word for word. The topic is more of an overview with little detailed information about the how things are done. I couldn’t keep my concentration up.
Date published: 2024-07-13
Rated 2 out of
5
by
Robert22066 from
Lots of Hype
“Might”, “maybe”, “possibly” “potentially”, or “promises” appear in almost every sentence. Frequently mentions “scientists” without pointing out scientists devise experiments which can disprove a theory. Also that the competition for funding produces extravagant claims. Lesson 14 does mention the hype about biofuels but is not carried forward to other lessons.
Structured for smartphone users, with the camera steady on the lecturer. Short, superficial sound bites, and camera angles change frequently. The lecturer generally speaks clearly but has difficulty pronouncing “d” and “t” at the end of words. Many visuals such as the citric acid cycle require careful study to be useful. Others such as a picture of a fruit fly are useful if you don't know what a fruit fly looks like. Some are just cartoonish.
Lots of attribution of sources, but often “Such-and-such company promises to...” without assessing costs, trade-offs, problems and timelines. Companies like Theranos, CytoDyne, and Puma are not mentioned.
Avoids mentioning Genetically Modified Frankenfoods, a real-life, right-now example of millions being fed because of increased yields and disease resistance.
Two star. Recommended because of some interesting and updated information, at the high school level, but when I consider what I actually learned, not much. The impressionable and those who value wokeness may be more impressed.
Date published: 2024-04-19
Rated 5 out of
5
by
yankee sue from
This Was a Fascinating Course.
This field is new to me but I found the lectures to be very well presented, logically explained and totally fascinating in the applications of this science. If I were young again, I could easily see myself lokking into this field as my life's work.
Date published: 2023-07-15
Rated 5 out of
5
by
LilyFlower from
Best Course posible I love it and so will you!
Best person, scientist you got to love it its amazing! 5 stars!!!!
Date published: 2023-04-07
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Dreros from
Excellent intro to SynBio
The course was exhaustive and touched on many aspects of SynBio. The professor's explanations were thorough with excellent graphs and diagrams. Highly recommended.
Date published: 2023-02-01
Rated 5 out of
5
by
kim kemal from
Great fun!
A wonderful intro to this very important topic and even a bio-nerd like me learned about a few new experiments I'd not heard of. Good presenter, too, clear and good use of visuals.
Quibble: (no option for a 4.5) I'm not uneducated on the subject and I am not alone in being very, very concerned about the ethical issues (ways in which the powerful will grab this to create an unbreachable biological bar to descendants of everyone alive today who is NOT in the current 1%). This is a call to action every bit as crucial as GLobal Climate Change. This is grabbing the means of ending the random mixing of genes that drives diversity and allows an economic nobody like Ramanujan to arise, complete with brilliant mind. If we don't get serious about wresting control of this from the political adn economic elite, we won't have a human species. The people who won't even levy taxes on themselves to pay for decent, non-leaky, book and computer equipped K-12 education for the Lesser Folk will NOT make brain enhancements and excellent health available to them. Telling ourselves otherwise is ostriching. That wasn't said powerfully enough and it needs to be.
Date published: 2023-01-17
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Montans from
I really didn’t know!
Though I studied a lot of biology in the past, I was unaware of the potential of Synthetic Biology. This presenter carefully led me into the possibilities of this area of study. I would suggest this course for anyone interested in science and its potential!
Date published: 2023-01-07
Rated 5 out of
5
by
mark k from
Synthetic Biology
absolutely outstanding; i am a 15-20 yr member of the Great Courses and Wondrium. one of the best courses i have attended. Two comments: timely and in depth discussions that challenged me. Great range of topics discussed. Secondly graphics and charts were very self explanatory and helpful to understand the material.
Date published: 2022-11-08
Overview
About
Milton Muldrow Jr. is the Director of Natural Sciences at Wilmington University. He is also an associate director of the NASA Delaware Space Grant Consortium, where he has received numerous grant awards to advance his research as well as that of students. He earned his PhD in Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University. He worked at the National Science Foundation, and his research includes the public policy, conservation, and possible genetic engineering of coral reefs. He was named to Delaware Business Times’ top 40 under 40 list, has delivered TEDx talks, and owns a biotech and education business called Phantom Ecology.
Trailer
01: SynBio Uses Life to Solve Problems
Delve into the amazing world of synbio—synthetic biology—which uses the tools of molecular biology to manipulate life in a host of ways. Survey the wide range of current uses and the field’s almost limitless prospects for improving health, the economy, and the environment. Also consider synbio’s social, ethical, and political implications, with examples involving human embryonic engineering.
32 min
02: Reading DNA: SynBio’s First Tool
Synthetic biology starts with reading DNA—sequencing the molecule that codes genetic information. How is it done? Trace the rapidly evolving technology of DNA sequencing, which required 13 years and $3.5 billion to decode the entire human genome in the 1990s and early 2000s. Compare this effort with new methods capable of the same feat in a matter of hours at very little cost.
31 min
03: Writing DNA: Printing Synthetic Genes
Now probe the technologies that can literally write DNA, assembling the pieces of life through “bottom-up” biology. Also called artificial DNA synthesis, this process allows genes to be tailor-made for tasks such as programming bacteria to produce insulin. First, inspect nature’s approach to building DNA. Then, examine traditional cloning methods along with the advanced techniques of synbio.
27 min
04: Editing DNA: CRISPR Supercharges SynBio
One of the most celebrated tools of synthetic biology goes by the name Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, or CRISPR. Explore the basic biology of CRISPR, which, together with an associated enzyme called Cas9, can target and alter specific sequences of DNA. Heralding a revolution in medicine and other fields, CRISPR borders on the miraculous, but it is also ethically fraught.
33 min
05: DNA Computers: DNA to Store and Process Data
Computer users face frequent updates that make older models obsolete and eventually unusable. The same goes for data storage, which degrades after a few years. By contrast, computers using DNA as the storage and processing medium could, in theory, offer a stable, super-compact system that would last for millions of years! Delve into this exciting prospect, highlighting progress and problems.
28 min
06: Directed Evolution: Let Nature Drive Discovery
Nature knows a lot more about evolution than humans do, so why not let nature do the work in a greatly sped-up search for new biological molecules? That is the mission of directed evolution. Learn how scientists set a goal, design an experiment, and then steer a living process through multiple iterations. The 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to three researchers for their work in this endeavor.
29 min
07: Metabolic Engineering: Getting More Product
Find out how synthetic biology came to the rescue in meeting the high demand for an antimalarial drug called artemisinin. The product of an Asian plant, artemisinin became the goal of an elaborate project in metabolic engineering—reconfiguring the metabolic pathways in ordinary cells to produce a molecule at industrial scale. Examine other cases in this increasingly routine technology.
28 min
08: The Overlapping Revolutions of SynBio and AI
A branch of artificial intelligence (AI) called machine learning can enhance the power of synthetic biology in ways scientists never dreamed possible. For example, AI has solved the challenge of protein folding, predicting the complex 3D structure of proteins in minutes when it formerly took years. Explore how this feat is achieved, and survey other applications in the marriage of AI and synbio.
30 min
09: SynBio Foods, Wearables, and Implantables
Synthetic biology can touch anything that can be grown, raised, or produced with microorganisms. This lecture covers the revolution in food and materials, highlighting new ways to fix nitrogen in the soil, culture meat nearly identical to the real thing, and weave fabrics stronger than steel but as soft as silk. The results are more environmentally friendly than products made the traditional way.
27 min
10: Regenerative Medicine for a Better Life
Turn to the uses of synthetic biology in regenerative medicine—the restoration of human function impaired by disease or congenital conditions. Start by reviewing the impressive advances in medicine in the 20th century. Then investigate the change brought by synbio, with radical new treatments to repair hearing and vision, address aging and longevity, and transplant organs and tissues.
28 min
11: SynBio Therapies against Cancer
Study the convergence of several techniques already presented in the course with the goal of defeating cancer—treatments that are having remarkable success. Focus on CAR-T therapy, which stands for Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell therapy, designed to supercharge a patient’s immune system T cells to target tumors. Also, look at the use of synthetic viruses and bacteria to attack cancer cells.
31 min
12: Synthetic Virology and Faster Vaccines
Continue your study of viruses from the previous lecture by examining their broad role in human evolution, as well as disease. Focus on COVID-19 and HIV, and the challenges posed by each for synthetic biology. Cover the rapid response to COVID-19 by vaccine researchers, who scrambled to synthetize the virus using synbio techniques, paving the way for an assortment of vaccines.
30 min
13: SynBio Is Also a World of New Risks
Survey the risks of synbio, which in theory makes it possible to download the code for smallpox, Ebola, or other deadly viruses, and reengineer them to spark a pandemic. Malevolent experts could even create entirely new viruses, tailored to wipe out key life-forms. While still difficult to pull off, such dire plots will only get easier with time. Evaluate the safeguards that society can take.
32 min
14: SynBio for Eco-fuels and Pest Elimination
Synbio can play a significant role in the fight to save Earth from continued degradation. See how metabolic engineering holds promise for lowering carbon dioxide output via the use of biofuels. Also, a genetic engineering mechanism called gene drives can eradicate invasive species and disease-carrying pests. Finally, synthetic biology can even rescue endangered ecosystems such as coral reefs.
31 min
15: De-extinction and Rescuing the Endangered
Given our growing ability to build organisms using genetic blueprints, is true extinction a thing of the past? Probably not. On the other hand, synthetic biology is being used in research to create hybrid versions of the wooly mammoth, passenger pigeon, American chestnut, and other extinct species. Focusing on the passenger pigeon, review the steps needed to resurrect a vanished life-form.
30 min
16: SynBio for Survival in Outer Space?
The technology exists to send humans to Mars, however, keeping them alive during the multi-year roundtrip is another matter. Dig into the role that synthetic biology can play in this ultimate exploit. From the bone loss inherent in long-term weightlessness to the infertility of the Martian soil and lack of oxygen in the planet’s atmosphere, synbio can help turn a dream of science fiction into reality.
32 min
17: Xenobiology: Going beyond DNA
Continuing the idea of science fiction dreams becoming reality thanks to synbio, explore the prospect of a parallel biology that exists next to, but not compatible with, existing creatures on Earth. These would literally be alien life-forms, made from a different genetic architecture and presumably posing no danger to us. Evaluate current research on this mind-boggling idea and the reasons to pursue it.
28 min
18: Quantum Biology and the Future of SynBio
Studies of biological processes such as the workings of enzymes, the sense of smell, the mystery of bird migration, and the astonishing efficiency of photosynthesis, give good reason to think that exotic quantum phenomena are involved. Quantum mechanics may, therefore, offer exciting new ways to manipulate life’s chemistry for our benefit. Could this be the future of synthetic biology? Stay tuned.
32 min
