General Resources

Introduction to Synthetic Biology

Thanks to Piyush and Kimia for these resources!

Synthetic biology is a field of biology that combines principles of engineering and science to create new biological systems or modify existing ones for specific purposes. This can include the engineering of new enzymes, the creation of living organisms with specific properties or the development of new genetic circuits. The ultimate goal of synthetic biology is to create new functions or applications that are not found in nature.

To begin, familiarize yourself with general biology. In the suggested videos below, I will be focusing on the central dogma of biology (how do we get from DNA to protein), but I highly recommend you look into additional resources if you need help!

CrashCourse: DNA Structure and Replication

CrashCourse: Transcription and Translation

CrashCourse: What is Biotechnology?

Plasmid

CSBERG (Canadian Synthetic Biology Education Research Group):

iGEM engineering webinars (thanks to Kimia for these resources)

Bioinformatics

(thanks to Chae for these resources)

Chemical Engineering Modelling

Math Modelling

Enzyme Kinetics

(Thanks to Piyush for these resources)

In this section, you will be learning about Enzymes, and how they may be modelled mathematically. This is similar to the Le Chatelier’s principle from IB Chemistry 12, so may be a good idea to brush up on that if you are a little rusty!

OrganicChemTutor: What is an Enzyme?

KhanAcademy: Introduction to Enzyme Kinetics

KhanAcademy: Steady States and Michaelis-Menten Equations

KhanAcademy: Enzymatic Inhibition

KhanAcademy: Cooperativity

KhanAcademy: Allosteric Regulation and Feedback Loops

KhanAcademy: Non-Enzymatic Protein Function

KhanAcademy: Covalent Modifications to Enzymes

Protein Modelling