[HN Gopher] Biological Circuit Design by Caltech
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       Biological Circuit Design by Caltech
        
       Author : drones
       Score  : 53 points
       Date   : 2024-07-24 16:22 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (biocircuits.github.io)
 (TXT) w3m dump (biocircuits.github.io)
        
       | dekhn wrote:
       | I sure hope this is a graduate-level course.
        
         | max_ wrote:
         | What do u mean "graduate level"?
        
           | dekhn wrote:
           | I mean that PhD candidates would be the primary target,
           | rather than undergraduates, although talented, advanced
           | undergraduates would also be welcome (this being Caltech, I'd
           | expected there to be plenty of juniors and seniors in the
           | course).
           | 
           | I say this because it drops into diffeqs and fairly
           | subtle/complex behavior quickly.
        
             | j7ake wrote:
             | Differential equation are usually introduced to undergrads
             | by year 2 or 3. So I expect this to be upper undergraduate
             | course.
        
               | dekhn wrote:
               | Not for biologists; typically, they will do multivariate
               | calculus but not so much diffeq (although depends on the
               | school and the student).
        
               | BalinKing wrote:
               | At Caltech specifically FWIW, the biology major
               | requirements include intro to diff eq (Ma 2),[0] which is
               | usually taken in the first quarter of sophomore year.
               | 
               | [0] https://www.bbe.caltech.edu/academics/biology/undergr
               | aduate-...
        
               | dekhn wrote:
               | yes but caltech is atypical (at many schools, biologists
               | would fail diff eq just like many biologists fail organic
               | chemistry). This course is definitely designed for
               | educated, motivated students.
        
               | j7ake wrote:
               | Organic chem was standard second year course for any
               | science/ engineering student, just like diff eq.
               | 
               | I also TA'd a course like this , and it was for 3rd year
               | biologists/ life sciences / bioengineering
        
               | jna_sh wrote:
               | The US doesn't do differential equations in high-school?
               | Huh, TIL
        
               | dekhn wrote:
               | No, typically things end at single variable calculus,
               | although it depends on the school. I can't imagine that
               | there is much value to having high school students doing
               | diff eq.
        
         | throwup238 wrote:
         | BE150 is sort of inbetween:
         | https://www.catalog.caltech.edu/current/2023-24/department/B...
         | 
         | "Advanced undergraduate" or "beginning graduate." It's Caltech
         | though so the distinction is a bit meaningless.
        
         | j7ake wrote:
         | The difference between graduate and undergraduate level is that
         | graduate is often easier (ie less work load) than undergrad...
         | 
         | This is because graduate students main focus is their research,
         | and courses are a distant second.
        
           | dekhn wrote:
           | Hmm, sort of? I can't really generalize from my own (first
           | year, before joining a lab full-time) PhD courses, but I
           | found them challenging in a way that differed from undergrad:
           | more expectation that you'd be able to figure out the
           | solutions to the hard problems by learning entire new fields
           | on the fly.
        
           | queuebert wrote:
           | Completely depends on the program of study and school. In
           | astronomy and physics programs, graduate courses are far more
           | advanced, but grades are based almost entirely on homework
           | sets. Undergraduate course are less comprehensive, but have a
           | mix of homework and tests. Working on problem sets is
           | chronically hard, while tests are acutely hard.
        
       | brcmthrowaway wrote:
       | Can anything be made out of this?
        
         | throwup238 wrote:
         | The individual techniques described in the class are in use all
         | over the pharmaceutical and biotech industries (especially
         | biosensors) but we're still in the early stages of biological
         | circuits, akin to where electronics was right before the vacuum
         | tube was invented. We've got stuff that operates sort of like
         | basic logic elements like relay switches did in electronics,
         | but we're far from designing any complex integrated circuits.
         | 
         | I think this point from the introduction says it best:
         | 
         |  _> - From a more practical point of view, we have a very
         | limited ability to construct, test, and compare designs. Even
         | with recent developments such as CRISPR, our ability to rapidly
         | and precisely produce cells with well-defined genomes remains
         | limited compared to what is possible in more advanced
         | disciplines. (This situation is rapidly improving!)_
        
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