how to learn hands-on bioengineering

[This is day #12 of my 30-day microblogging challenge. You can and should still join!

I’m intending to write a longer piece about this, but here’s the microblog with the highlights:

HTGAA: best intro course

I recommend MIT’s “How to Grow (Almost) Anything” course as an entry to bioengineering. They host 2 cohorts per year (spring + fall). You can either join as a “committed listener” to learn the theory online with online lectures (3-6hr) and homework for free, or join one of the associated labs available globally, to attend in-person lectures and do the in-person labs (HIGHLY recommended if you have access to one!).

They currently have nodes in Tokyo, Seoul, London, Quito, then multiple in USA (San Francisco, Virginia, Baltimore, Chicago, Salinas, Durham, NYC, Iowa), and Canada (Ottawa, Victoria), they’re working hard to set up cloud labs so students can run experiments remotely.

It’s an intensive 360º course, covering all the basics you will need! From DNA design/editing, to protein design, genetic circuits, cell-free systems, lab automation (OpenTrons), synthetic cells, how microscopy and mass spectrometry work… To get the certificate you must present a final project covering some of these topics.

I found many of the topics fascinating, and I learned a lot by watching the lectures, doing the homework, and the final project (which was my first ever computational biology project!)

Info: https://htgaa.org/

Community labs

See if there’s a community lab in your city: https://biopunklab.com/global-map They are basically like a “WeWork for lab space”, where you pay a monthly subscription fee (usually around the price of a coworking) and get access to shared equipment and sometimes shared reagents or disposables, which massively lowers the cost for experiments. It also provides access to mentors, and you might be able to find cool projects to join!

If starting more or less on your own, I’d recommend picking a simple beginner protocol to practice the basic wet lab techniques with lower stakes. For example, genetically engineering E. Coli or other cells like yeast cells to make them glow.

If in the USA…

In the USA it’s legal to run BSL-1 experiments at home! So you can engineer E. Coli, yeast, and other “safe” cells at home. The Odin (https://www.the-odin.com/) sells full kits of materials and tools for different levels, with online lectures included. You can also find other providers (the keyword is “DIY bio”).

Keep in mind that experiment kits are heavily tried-and-tested protocols. To truly how to design, set up and run scientific/wet lab experiments, you want to veer off-track and figure out your own experiments to run (possibly replicating a paper, or doing some variation of a published protocol).

Learning the techniques

• You will find many guides or examples on Youtube, including 1st-person PoV videos
• Repository with many technique showcasing videos (JoVE - Journal of Visualized Experiments): https://guides.lib.uiowa.edu/JoVE
• Ask to shadow another scientist at a community lab, or at the lab they work at. Ask if they can mentor you while you try the techniques. You’ll be surprised at how open scientists are, and how much they’re down to help you!