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Team:Wellesley Desyne/Notebook/HeatherNotebook
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| + | Day one of biology boot camp at MIT was a fun and instructive initiation to the world of synthetic biology. BioBuilder founder Natalie Kuldell structured the day with lectures and lab activities that helped to introduce and explain some of the basic concepts, practices, and goals of synthetic biology, showing some of the current developments in the discipline as well as possible future implications. The experience of being in a lab and hearing the perspective of a scientist/educator in the field provided valuable insight into the engineering process (the design, build, test cycle) and also the attendant possibilities and challenges. It was interesting to see that like computer science and engineering, design in synthetic biology relies upon standardization, abstraction, and synthesis to facilitate the process. This parallel helped to illuminate some of the needs and challenges faced by synthetic biologists, such as moving through the abstraction levels of complex systems, and showed areas that could benefit from the development of new design tools. | ||
It was especially insightful to go through the lab experience from the perspective of one with limited prior experience in biology. It provided a better appreciation for the process of learning and discovery, and also the limitations and frustrations of a novice scientist. Since the project Joanna and I are brainstorming is a visual and interactive piece that is focused on outreach, our assumed audience is the inexperienced scientist. So, many of the same feelings and trepidations we had in the lab are probably also the feelings that this user group would experience. As we went through the protocols, we sometimes felt overwhelmed because the process wasn’t completely clear to us, but we collaborated, asked questions, and used our logical assumptions to follow through. We did sometimes feel that we were moving mechanically through motions and wished for a better understanding of what we were doing, which might indicate something to consider when developing our project. There is the future challenge of making the process of synthetic biology relatable, informative, exciting and interactive for the inexperienced scientist all at once, while limiting the frustration that comes from inexperience. | It was especially insightful to go through the lab experience from the perspective of one with limited prior experience in biology. It provided a better appreciation for the process of learning and discovery, and also the limitations and frustrations of a novice scientist. Since the project Joanna and I are brainstorming is a visual and interactive piece that is focused on outreach, our assumed audience is the inexperienced scientist. So, many of the same feelings and trepidations we had in the lab are probably also the feelings that this user group would experience. As we went through the protocols, we sometimes felt overwhelmed because the process wasn’t completely clear to us, but we collaborated, asked questions, and used our logical assumptions to follow through. We did sometimes feel that we were moving mechanically through motions and wished for a better understanding of what we were doing, which might indicate something to consider when developing our project. There is the future challenge of making the process of synthetic biology relatable, informative, exciting and interactive for the inexperienced scientist all at once, while limiting the frustration that comes from inexperience. | ||
Revision as of 22:02, 3 July 2013
Heather's Notebook
Contents |
May 30
5/30 - MIT Bio Builder lab
Day one of biology boot camp at MIT was a fun and instructive initiation to the world of synthetic biology. BioBuilder founder Natalie Kuldell structured the day with lectures and lab activities that helped to introduce and explain some of the basic concepts, practices, and goals of synthetic biology, showing some of the current developments in the discipline as well as possible future implications. The experience of being in a lab and hearing the perspective of a scientist/educator in the field provided valuable insight into the engineering process (the design, build, test cycle) and also the attendant possibilities and challenges. It was interesting to see that like computer science and engineering, design in synthetic biology relies upon standardization, abstraction, and synthesis to facilitate the process. This parallel helped to illuminate some of the needs and challenges faced by synthetic biologists, such as moving through the abstraction levels of complex systems, and showed areas that could benefit from the development of new design tools.
It was especially insightful to go through the lab experience from the perspective of one with limited prior experience in biology. It provided a better appreciation for the process of learning and discovery, and also the limitations and frustrations of a novice scientist. Since the project Joanna and I are brainstorming is a visual and interactive piece that is focused on outreach, our assumed audience is the inexperienced scientist. So, many of the same feelings and trepidations we had in the lab are probably also the feelings that this user group would experience. As we went through the protocols, we sometimes felt overwhelmed because the process wasn’t completely clear to us, but we collaborated, asked questions, and used our logical assumptions to follow through. We did sometimes feel that we were moving mechanically through motions and wished for a better understanding of what we were doing, which might indicate something to consider when developing our project. There is the future challenge of making the process of synthetic biology relatable, informative, exciting and interactive for the inexperienced scientist all at once, while limiting the frustration that comes from inexperience.
Week of June 3
Monday - Tuesday: We spent the past two days at BU, getting to know our collaborative partners, learning more about synthetic biology, and working with the Eugene programming language. Both teams presented their projects and potential projects for the summer. It was interesting to see the underlying processes of a wetlab team, and we received some helpful feedback as we continue to brainstorm and research.
Wednesday - Thursday: Joanna and I continue to develop and expand upon our ideas. Our research has uncovered some really fascinating projects and developments in synthetic biology from which to draw inspiration. We continue to think about the various intersections of synthetic biology with the environment, energy, ecology, and art.
Week of June 10
Monday: This morning we met with Orit and presented our preliminary ideas. The advice and guidance she provided was so helpful and instructive. We are beginning to feel like our ideas are taking shape, and are going to begin thinking deeper about the synthetic biology concepts we would like to convey and the details of user interaction.
Tuesday - Wednesday: Joanna and I have been creating preliminary storyboard rough drafts. We chose three of our ideas to develop further, and have begun to think about the details of implementation. As we think deeper we are discovering new possibilities and challenges, which are helping to inform the ongoing direction of our thought process.
Thursday: Today we revised and edited our storyboards, fleshing out more details and phases and critically thinking through the different possibilities. We then created more comprehensive “final” drafts to use in future planning. As we prepare for the collaborative brainstorming session tomorrow, we are also compiling our sources of inspiration, and organizing the various sketches, notes, and products of our many previous brainstorming sessions.
Friday: Group workshop/brainstorming session with the BU iGEM team.
Week of June 17
Monday: After looking over our notes from Friday’s brainstorming session, Joanna and I discussed our project possibilities and made a final decision. The project we decided to implement is an art installation/application that explores the idea of DNA as a universal language, and its potential to encode information. We spent the remainder of the day storyboarding and discussing the details of implementation, including technology, programming strategy, and user interface.
Tuesday: We further discussed implementation details and evaluated the pros and cons of various implementation strategies. After some group consultation, we have decided to create an installation version and also a web demo version for wider distribution. Now we are going to begin developing a mock-up, and working on programming some functionality.
Wednesday-Thursday: Joanna and I continued developing the mockup and interface functionality. Joanna researched the Twitter API and experimented with mining tweets based on keywords, user names, and hash tags. I continued to work on the html mock-up, looking into flexible layouts and working on the functionality of DNA code translation in javascript.
Friday: In the morning, Joanna and I completed a little more work on our interface mock-up and created a paper prototype. For the remainder of the day we did more Twitter research and began to investigate animation in html5.
