February 18, 2020 We are pleased to host an interactive workshop designed to help graduate students and postdocs identify potentially malicious applications of their work and mitigation options organized by the Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC) this spring. Malice Analysis Assessing Biotechnology Research for Security Concerns Colorado State University Lory Student Center Room 386 1101 Center Ave Mall, Fort Collins, CO 80521 March 23, 2020, 9:00-1:0 ..read more

Last month, we presented our work on modeling the cell cycle using high-throughput yeast genetics at the fourth Gordon Research Conference on Synthetic Biology. The poster presented (below) describes a hybrid approach in which we investigate a small number of genetic interactions (630) with an unprecedented number of biological replicates (up to 20) in order to better characterize mutant combinations that result in lethality. The poster was well-received by yeast geneticists, computer scientists who build gene network models, and researchers who are generally curious about high-t ..read more

Government personnel responsible for the security of life sciences infrastructures are often not formally trained in biological sciences and relevant scientific fields. Although the security sector works together with the scientific community, the rapid pace of life sciences innovations, evolving terminologies, and shifts in research culture makes it challenging for the personnel in these positions to stay on top of current information.  Moreover, the security sector is the population’s first line of defense when it comes to biological threats. Keeping these personnel apprised of ..read more

In the fall of 2018, the lab attended a retreat hosted by the Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC) at Colorado State University and have been interested in the work of the EBRC since. We are very glad to announce the Peccoud Lab officially became involved with the consortium when Dr. Peccoud became an individual member in July. The EBRC is a community of Principal Investigators, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and industry members all committed to advancing synthetic biology. The EBRC states their focus as a nonprofit is on “building dynamic relationships b ..read more

Why a new synthetic biology journal? Most synthetic biology papers are not published in a synthetic biology journal. They are still published in non-specialized journals that span a broad spectrum of scientific specialties from bioinformatics to molecular biology and biotechnology. It can be difficult for readers to notice synthetic biology papers among all the other papers that these journals publish. For authors, this dispersion can also be problematic as editors of well-established journals sometimes struggle to see how a synthetic biology submission fits within the scope of their journal ..read more

FBI Training Objectives For one week in May, we hosted 11 agents and analysts from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation for an intensive synthetic biology training program. The goal of this event was to give the law enforcement personnel foundational knowledge and insight into the rapidly evolving field of synthetic biology. At first glance, a relationship between synthetic biology and the nation’s top law enforcement agency might seem incongruous. Consider, though, the rapid development of genetic engineering techniques over the last several years. The agents who visited campus were part ..read more

For graduate students interested in getting intensive training in synthetic biology, there are several summer schools worth considering: CSHL Summer School in Synthetic Biology: This program spans 2 weeks and combines lectures and intensive lab experience. Application deadline is April 15th. SSBSS 2017:The Synthetic and Systems Biology Summer School (SSBSS) is a full-immersion five-day residential summer school at the Robinson College, University of Cambridge, UK. Applications are due on March 31st. qBio Summer School in Systems and Synthetic Biology: this event is held at Colorado State Un ..read more

There is still time to apply to the 2016 Q-Bio Summer School. Applications are due on Monday, February 16 at 11:59pm (MST). The application requires a CV and a 1-page statement of interest in the summer school (combined into a single .pdf). Scholarships are available. To apply now, please visit the Q-Bio website: https://www.openconf.org/qbioss2016/openconf.php The q-bio Summer School will cover nine different general topic areas and be held at three different campuses. The specific dates and campus locations are: July 10-23, 2016 at the Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO July 10-23 ..read more

I recently came across a couple of synthetic biology textbooks that you may find useful if you have not seen them yet. BioBuilder published by O’Reilly in July 2015. The lead author is Natalie Kuldell  who is an Instructor in the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT as well as Founder and President of the BioBuilder Educational Foundation. The books targets an audience of high-school and under graduate students. This book will be an inspiration for the next generation of scientists who will be drawn to explore the frontier of science and engineering. It provides teachers and students a ..read more

Teaching synthetic biology can be challenging because it involves concepts from so many fields.  I would like to give credit to two professors who have been teaching synthetic biology using GenoCAD. I was directly involved in the class taught by Massimiliano Pierobon at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. Using video conference, I first gave a seminar describing the computational aspects of the different phases of synthetic biology projects. This allowed me to introduce notions of genetic languages GenoCAD relies on. Then we went through a series of three training sessions covering different a ..read more