Unit Guide

General Information

Unit convenor and teaching staff	Unit convenor and teaching staff Paul Jaschke paul.jaschke@mq.edu.au
Credit points	Credit points 10
Prerequisites	Prerequisites ((BMOL6201 or CBMS621) or (admission to MBioBus or BMedScMBiotech)) and BMOL6432
Corequisites	Corequisites
Co-badged status	Co-badged status
Unit description	Unit description This unit provides an introduction to synthetic biology and hands-on practise in the analysis of large datasets gathered when working in the broad field of biomolecular sciences. Biomolecular sciences spans the study of individual molecular structures and biochemical reactions to also encompass the 'omics' sciences of genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and glycomics. These sciences all generate large and complex datasets that require specialised software and methods to assemble and analyse. The analyses are challenging, as they not only require a good knowledge of biochemistry, molecular biology, and cell and developmental biology, but also an understanding of limitations of both the software and the data quality. The lectures on synthetic biology start with a brief overview of the field before delving into more challenging yet exciting concepts. You will learn about current techniques and approaches used in synthetic biology and design a molecular switch using these principles. The lectures also discuss applications, limitations and future potential of synthetic biology to produce new solutions to global challenges.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

ULO1: Ultilise and describe techniques applicable to acquiring large biomolecular datasets and the limitations of the use of these methods
ULO2: Design and conduct experiments to collect large biomolecular datasets using appropriate methods to assess and analyse the quality of these datasets.
ULO3: Report, communicate and draw new conclusions about a biomolecular system from large analytical datasets
ULO4: Summarise and discuss synthetic biology engineering principles using appropriate contemporary synthetic biological vocabulary
ULO5: Summarise current and future application spaces for synthetic biology by reviewing the latest published literature in the field
ULO6: Define the culture, safety practices, and organisational community of the synthetic biology field to evaluate how emerging and future synthetic biology technologies may benefit and/or potentially endanger humanity and the natural environment

General Assessment Information

All assignments must be submitted as soft copy before the date & time specified on iLearn. Specific instructions for how to successfully complete assessments will be provided on iLearn. Criteria and standards required for the assessment tasks will be available on iLearn.

For any unapproved absences, students will receive a zero mark.

Participation in ALL workshop sessions is required in order to complete the workshop reports.

Online quizzes, in-class activities, or scheduled tests and exam must be undertaken at the time indicated in the unit guide. Should these activities be missed due to illness or misadventure, students may apply for Special Consideration.

All other assessments must be submitted by 5:00 pm on their due date. Should these assessments be missed due to illness or misadventure, students should apply for Special Consideration.

Late submissions are permitted and a consistent penalty will be applied for late submissions as follows:

A 12-hour grace period will be given after which the following deductions will be applied to the awarded assessment mark: 12 to 24 hours late = 10% deduction; for each day thereafter, an additional 10% per day or part thereof will be applied until five days beyond the due date. After this time, a mark of zero (0) will be given. For example, an assessment worth 20% is due 5 pm on 1 January. Student A submits the assessment at 1 pm, 3 January. The assessment received a mark of 15/20. A 20% deduction is then applied to the mark of 15, resulting in the loss of three (3) marks. Student A is then awarded a final mark of 12/20.

Assessment Tasks

Name	Weighting	Hurdle	Due
Workshop Participation	0%	Yes	Week 2-13
Natural and Synthetic Genomics Essay	25%	No	Week 7
Genome assembly and annotation	25%	No	Week 8
Synthetic Biology Design Project	25%	No	Week 13
Final Exam	25%	No	University Examination Period

Workshop Participation

Assessment Type ¹: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task ²: 0 hours
Due: Week 2-13
Weighting: 0%
This is a hurdle assessment task (see assessment policy for more information on hurdle assessment tasks)

Based on attending workshops, contributing to discussions, and completing activities.