PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Hsu, Suzie
AU  - Huenemann, Jay
AU  - Kulkarni, Vishwesh
AU  - Ledesma-Amaro, Rodrigo
AU  - Moseley, Robert
AU  - Mukhitov, Nikita
AU  - Tiwari, Rashmi
AU  - Wang, Shue
AU  - Smanski, Michael J.
TI  - The Five-Primer Challenge: An inquiry-based laboratory module for synthetic biology
AID  - 10.1101/745794
DP  - 2019 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 745794
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/08/28/745794.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/08/28/745794.full
AB  - New technologies in DNA synthesis and assembly give genetic engineers complete freedom in genetic design, where virtually any plasmid DNA sequence can be created efficiently and economically. Learning how to design, construct, and test new DNA sequences is a critical skill for researchers in molecular biology and biotechnology. Here we present a student-centered, inquiry-based module in which students learn how to control bacterial gene expression by appplying various DNA assembly techniques. The central activity in this learning module is termed the ‘Five-Primer Challenge’. Each student is allowed to order up to five 60-mer oligonucleotide primers to then modify a GFP expression plasmid with the goal of increasing GFP expression as much as possible. This module was developed and implemented at the 2016 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Synthetic Biology Course, and was effective at engaging students in critical thinking and in promoting student learning.