Skip to content
  • Home
  • About
    • Partners
    • Contact
  • Research
    • Research Outputs
  • Opportunities
  • Blog
Menu
  • Home
  • About
    • Partners
    • Contact
  • Research
    • Research Outputs
  • Opportunities
  • Blog

BioEngine Africa

STRATEGIC TRAINING AWARD
FOR RESEARCH SKILLS

BioENGINE Africa will introduce synthetic biology research skills training into African universities by offering graduate-level courses in engineering or biotechnology to underpin demand for these skills in research relevant to biotechnology and building bioeconomies, which is a strategic priority for the African Union.

Synthetic biology education to support a bioeconomy

Synthetic biology offers rich interdisciplinary educational opportunities at the intersection of chemistry, biology, engineering, computer science and design and we aim to equip researchers with essential skills to meet real-world challenges in human, animal, plant and environmental health through development of diagnostics using a design, build and test cycles approach. These challenges can be effectively addressed by an interdisciplinary research approach that develops new technology in a holistic and equitable way, led by local scientists, engineers and health workers.

Training trainers to reach 150 graduate students

Through BioENGINE Africa we will identify and establish a cohort of 12 talented lecturers from Ghana, Cameroon and Kenya who actively teach graduate-level courses in engineering or biotechnology then train the cohort in the use of effective pedagogies for synthetic biology education, specifically the application of “Design, Build, Test” engineering cycle.  We will mentor and support the cohort in their professional development and facilitate the delivery of BioENGINE Africa training to over 150 graduate students.

We aim to design teaching resources including practicals that are meaningful but also affordable and feasible in resource-constrained institutions; thus enabling incorporation of BioENGINE Africa modules into Masters and PhD programmes at the participating institutes. Moreover, our ultimate goal is to inspire and inform researchers who will apply the skills they acquire through the courses to developing impactful diagnostics.

Bringing the design, build, test engineering cycle to biotechnology

The partners will deliver a two-week course covering all aspects of the DESIGN, BUILD and TEST engineering cycle as applied to molecular diagnostics using synthetic biology approaches. The following modules will be included:

DESIGN

  • Plasmid design using Benchling open source bioinformatics platform
  • Digital workflows with SynBioHub SBOLDesigner and iBioSim
  • Modular design of biosensor plasmids
  • Molecular strategies for changing biosensor characteristics
  • In silico modelling of biosensor circuits

BUILD

  • DNA assembly standards
  • DNA assembly techniques including low-cost methods such as Golden Gate
  • Transformation
  • Recombinant protein expression

TEST

  • Automation (sponsorship of instruments supported by OpenTrons)
  • Fluorescence assays using DIY fluorimeters

BioENGINE Africa will run over 12 months in three cycles from April 2020 to March 2021 and all educational resources including the website, videos and protocols will be openly licensed using Creative Commons CC-BY so that they can be used, reused and built upon by others.

Project Updates

Loading...
NMIMR COVID Lab

Developing affordable COVID diagnostics for the global South: on-going work in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology

Read More
IMG_5555

Open Bioeconomy Lab to help equip the next generation of innovative biological engineers to develop disease diagnostics for Africa

Read More

Project Team

Loading...
Photo of Cordellia

Cordellia Fulai Chongwain

Dr Karen Polizzi

Professor Paul Freemont

Dr Samuel Sakyi

Harry Akligoh

Dr Jenny Molloy

1 2 Next »

BioENGINE Africa STAR Partners

Funder

quick links

  • Home
  • Research
  • News
  • Contact

FOLLOW & LIKE US ON

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • YouTube

NEWSLETTER

Sign up for emails to get the scoop on news, updates and more.

Subscribe Now

Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | Disclaimer

Manage Cookie Consent
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional cookies Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}