Grant: Idea to Innovation

Advances in sequencing and synthesis are changing biology from an observational science to an engineering discipline, with the promise to enable advances in biofuels, green chemicals, agriculture and health. However, assembling DNA has remained an obstacle. We are developing a system to assemble DNA on small magnetic beads, allowing complicated large constructs to be built in an afternoon. The method is simple enough to be used by high school students, and in fact we plan to market an educational kit using the method. This kit will both enable specific preplanned experiments as well as provide flexibility to allow creative design and construction of the student's own ideas. We also expect the tools and procedure we create to find application in professional markets, easing the creation of new strains for scientific research and engineering development.