Did you know that lasers could be used by satellites to talk to each other? We could use a laser on the ground to communicate with International Space Station (in fact, NASA is working on a program like this!). In 2016, NASA put laser communications system on a satellite orbiting the moon, and used it to talk to Earth. Both SpaceX and Amazon's satellites intend to have lasers for communications. In this class we shall learn how space-based laser communications work, what hardware is required, what makes it difficult / better / worse than radio frequency communications. We shall learn about technology behind current laser space missions and will talk about planned future missions.

Have you ever wondered exactly what CRISPR is? We'll explain it to you! This class will cover a lot: from the discovery and basic biology of CRISPR to the latest in gene editing research. We'll try to make it understandable, but also at a fairly deep level. There are a lot of subtopics we could cover, so we will send out a survey for what people want to hear about. This will primarily be a lecture-based class, but we'll leave ample time for discussion or questions.

Learn how directed evolution has allowed scientists to reprogram proteins and create new to nature molecular machines.

CRISPR-Cas9 is one of the hottest things in biology right now - do you want to be able to understand current research in the field? We'll cover a lot in this class: from the basics of DNA repair to the discovery of CRISPR-Cas9 to the latest in gene editing research. We'll try to make it understandable, but also at a fairly deep level. This will primarily be a lecture-based class, but we'll leave ample time for discussion or questions!

Have you ever wondered how all of the cool facts in your biology class were deduced? In this class, we'll focus on the central dogma and introduce you to some basic assays in molecular biology and some not-so-basic ones as well. Through discussion, we'll try to design and come up with ways to try and answer questions like "How does the 3D shape of the nucleus affect gene expression?" and "How do we know where a specific protein binds in the genome?"