Splash Biography

ALICE YE, undergrad gleefully majoring in biochemistry

Major: Biology

College/Employer: Corporation for National and Community Service

Year of Graduation: 2014

Brief Biographical Sketch:

Hi all,

I'm a 2nd year at UChicago interested in bioengineering (at UChicago? right, well, I'll tack on the 'engineering' title in grad school), synthetic biology, chemistry, environmentalism, and cooking. As you can see, I'm teaching an Intro to SynBio class this year, so if this all goes well - if I can teach you guys something useful and enjoyable - then I'd like to hold more classes in the future. (Like food chemistry where we get to make apple pies from ritz crackers!)

Please let me know if you have any questions about the class, me, etc. :)

See you hopefully in class!

Alice
yea@uchicago.edu

Past Classes

(Clicking a class title will bring you to the course's section of the corresponding course catalog)

S1346: The Mysteries of Plants: Grow Your Own Garden! in Splash Fall 2014 (Oct. 04, 2014)

They're all around us, but what do you really know about plants? Come learn more about how plants get energy and nutrients, and why they are such an important part of our world. You'll even get the chance to learn how to grow your own indoor plants and take home your own herb garden!

S1094: Synthetic Biology: Hacking the Genome in Cascade! Winter 2013 (Jan. 29, 2013)

What do glow-in-the-dark rabbits and drought-resistant corn have in common? Both are the products of human technology, created by altering the genetic material of these organisms. Synthetic biology is the study of how to control the natural mechanisms that determine the characteristics of living things. The potential of synthetic biology is truly thrilling, and it enables us to come up with new perspectives on how to make biological research more efficient and useful to society. Presented by rotating teachers, our class will cover the foundations of synthetic biology. We will also try an experiment ourselves, explore the ethical and moral questions scientists and policy makers face, and present our own ideas about how technology can transform the world of biology in the future.

S950: Synthetic Biology: Re-Designing Cellular Life in Splash! Fall 2012 (Oct. 06, 2012)

Despite all of evolution's accomplishments, we still call it merely a tinkerer of engineering. The cell has a comforting familiarity, but applying engineering concepts allows us to stretch cellular life to its limits. Although synthetic biology may be considered the next logical step in biological engineering, its potential is truly thrilling. In our class, we'll talk about some techniques behind synthetic biology, try an experiment ourselves, and explore the ethical and moral questions scientists and policy makers face. Our class will conclude with cute biology-themed treats. ^.^

S810: Bio-Hacking Nature: An Introduction to Synthetic Biology in Splash! Fall 2011 (Oct. 01, 2011)

What if you could engineer a cat that eats lint? Or a patch of strawberries that produces a flu vaccine? Curious? Come learn about synthetic biology, an up and coming hybrid technological science.