Today's synthetic biologists are in the early stages of engineering living cells to help treat diseases, sense toxic compounds in the environment, and produce valuable drugs. With this manual, you can be part of it. Based on the BioBuilder curriculum, this valuable book provides open-access, modular, hands-on lessons in synthetic biology for secondary and post-secondary classrooms and laboratories. It also serves as an introduction to the field for science and engineering enthusiasts. Developed at MIT in collaboration with award-winning high school teachers, BioBuilder teaches the foundational ideas of the emerging synthetic biology field, as well as key aspects of biological engineering that researchers are exploring in labs throughout the world. These lessons will empower teachers and students to explore and be part of solving persistent real-world challenges.Learn the fundamentals of biodesign and DNA engineering Explore important ethical issues raised by examples of synthetic biology Investigate the BioBuilder labs that probe the design-build-test cycle Test synthetic living systems designed and built by engineers Measure several variants of an enzyme-generating genetic circuit Model "bacterial photography" that changes a strain's light sensitivity Build living systems to produce purple or green pigment Optimize baker's yeast to produce ? -carotene

Settlement houses were part of America's Progressive Movement, and were catalysts for change within the educational system. The Italian Settlement, now known as the Neighborhood Center, Inc., was established in 1905 in Utica, New York and has served the community for over one hundred years. Founded by the Women's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Church, the Settlement's primary goal was to help the newly arrived Italian population assimilate into American culture. This study provides an oral history of the author and of Marie Russo, a child of an immigrant family who, with the support of the Italian Settlement, overcame cultural and societal challenges. Her career with the Settlement culminated with her achievement of serving as the agency's Executive Director. Russo's unique seventy-year relationship with the Settlement provides a perspective of the agency's history that needed to be preserved while firsthand knowledge was still attainable.