Creating a High School club for DYI Bio ?

[Linda]

Hi ! I'm a current high school student who is really interested in Synthetic Biology. While getting a biology club approved by my school is easy, I'm having a hard time thinking of ways on how to start the club. 

For example, what certain subjects in Biology should the club focus on when learning about synthetic biology ? What kinds of projects/ labs should we start with ? What about equipment ? I've also read online about DYI Dremelfuge and DYI PCR Thermocycler, and since my school has a relatively well-equipped robotics lab that includes a dremel, 3D printer and Laser engraver, should I just try to build some equipment with club members, or fundraise for industry equipment ? 

  

[Cathal Garvey]

Hi Linda!
Some questions that might help us help you:
A) Have you got good numbers interested already? Or is it just you, so far?
B) What level of training or understanding does the most advanced person
on your team (or you) have? So we can suggest starting projects, etc.
C) Have you the support of your school, will you have access to school
labs after hours?
D) Where in the world are you, roughly? If in the US, the answers will
be very different to the EU, for now.

Also, don't forget that Synthetic Biology is only one facet of DIYbio
stuff. Many people here do nothing to do with Synbio, favouring DNA
fingerprinting, sequencing, "quantified self" stuff, nutrition, directed
evolution, microbiology...

best,
Cathal

--
T: @onetruecathal, @IndieBBDNA
P: +3538763663185
W: http://indiebiotech.com

[Linda]

I'm actually in the U.S., and my school usually allows about 1.5-2 hours after school, or lunch (about 50 minutes) for extracurriculars like this - with full access to labs. I have had 6 people interested so far (not including myself), with the highest level of training and understanding of introductory college biology. However, we're enrolling in some coursera/ edX courses that go more in depth this summer, to prepare for the club next school year. I'm also thinking of trying to ask a local college professor/ researcher to support the club, since that has happened in some other clubs in the school. 

Thank you !

Linda

[Cathal Garvey]

Hi Linda,
That all sounds ideal, and suggests a good path to choose. You have a
school that will support after-hours club activity, give access to labs,
and you have the hardware you need to make some forms of lab equipment
right away. For the stuff you'd need to pay for, I'm sure your school or
a local college would support you!

If there's a local College or University who have fielded an iGEM team,
they might be willing to support a "junior cycle" team in the local
high-school if you ask, too.

Coursera/edX is good idea, I think, but don't wait until then. The
internet is a great source of critical information, too! And for an
ambitious club like this I'd be surprised if a local person wouldn't be
willing to teach out of hours; whether a postgrad at local university, a
researcher, or simply an enthusiastic teacher.

So, go for it! Great idea, and exciting to see how close you are already
to getting something together! :)

[Koeng]

Sounds like a great start! I'd start with the club just doing like some bacterial transformations, that is probably the most essential thing there is and it takes some time to become good at creating them. (PCR reactions and cloning reactions are easy once you learn how to do them, yet companies still make tons of money on competent cells because they are hard to make, we have a lab of consisting of about 6 people, and 1 of them is devoted to creating them)

Either check out Carolina's transformation guides or Cathal's on github (just look up biohacking github)

I also have to agree: Don't wait for courses and such. I have known a couple of people that dropped out of Synbio because they insisted on reading instead of experimenting. Anyway, the club will get somewhere with that kind of support, but try and get a college to help you! Often they actually want to because one of the things like NIH looks for in grants is outreach programs

[Mega [Andreas Stuermer]]

Hi! 

Depending what your lab has available... 

http://www.carolina.com/transformation-dna-transfer-kits/glow-in-the-dark-transformation-teacher-demo-kit-with-prepaid-coupon/211086.pr?catId=&mCat=&sCat=&ssCat=&question=glowing includes everything you need to genetically engineer bacteria to make them glow in the dark. Shipment within US is also very cheap (compared to what I payed for just shipment of two vials pVIB :P )