Module: 3
Sponsoring Program: Tetrad/BP
Administrator: Danny Dam

STUDY LIST INFORMATION
Course Number: BIOCHEM 210/BP 219
Course Name: Cellular Electronics
Units: 3
Grading Option: S/U
Course Director: Wallace Marshall

MORE COURSE INFORMATION
Dates: May 12, 2025 - June 2, 2025
Campus: MB
Location: Teaching Lab, GH 227
Schedule: M/W/F, 2:00pm-4:00pm
Minimum Class Size: TBD
Maximum Class Size: 12

Cells are regulated by complex signaling networks that in many ways resemble electronic circuits.  Can we use ideas from electronics to better understand such circuitry, or are cellular circuits fundamentally different?  Cells also use electrical signaling, and again understanding this signaling can be easier if you know how electronics works.  Finally, there is a growing interest in interfacing electronic devices with cells in order to probe and control cellular function.   In this course, students will gain a basic understanding of electronics with a focus on concepts that would be needed to learn how to better understand cellular pathways as well as to potentially make use of intracellular devices in their future research careers. The course will be divided into three parts.  In the first week, students will do hands-on exercises to learn basic concepts in electronics such as Kirchhoff's laws, by building and testing simple analog and digital circuits, including building simple digital circuits using logic gates as well as analog circuits using transistors and op-amps. In the second week, students will apply these basic concepts as they read and discuss literature on electrical activity in cells with a focus on electrical signaling at the cell membrane (Nernst equation, action potentials, charge screening), as well as synthetic biology papers that implement signaling pathways inspired by digital logic.  In the third week, students will learn about electronic-integrated biosensors and actuators that could be used inside cells, and gain first-hand experience using some recently developed cell-implantable integrated circuits into actual cells.  No prior experience in electronics or physics is required, just a willingness to learn new things and have fun!