Instructor Interview
Below, Dr. Robbie Wilson describes various aspects of how he and Dr. Megan Kizer taught 7.341 Turning Evolutionary Dials: Directed Evolution Techniques for Climate Change and Beyond in Spring 2022.
OCW: For the uninitiated, what is directed evolution? What sets it apart from other biochemical techniques?
Robbie Wilson: Directed evolution covers a range of molecular biology techniques that enable scientific researchers to evolve genes and proteins towards a desired function. By performing natural selection in a laboratory or computation environment, evolution can be sped up millions of times compared to natural rates. Directed evolution is itself an ever-evolving field that uses new innovations in biochemical techniques to enhance this lab-based evolutionary process. For example, researchers are beginning to artificially expand the genetic code and include chemistries into evolved proteins that nature has never experienced or explored.
OCW: The Biology department’s advanced undergraduate seminars all adhere to a fairly similar structure. In what ways does having such a pre-established structure make teaching the course easier? What difficulties does it present?
Robbie Wilson: The pre-established structure lets students prepare for 2 hours of a discussion-driven analysis of 2 topical papers. Everybody knows what they are in for, and the occasional addition of snacks and coffee can assist a weary undergraduate mind, battered by assignments and deadlines, in engaging with the paper material and interpreting the results. This also helps with one of the main difficulties in any advanced undergraduate seminar—active engagement. Either out of shyness, fear of embarrassment, or not enough sugar/caffeine, discussion-driven classes require tutors to prompt and promote discussion among students. One sip too much, though, and some students might begin to dominate discussions. The most difficult job of tutors is to provide a framework for balanced critical discussion that benefits each student equally.
OCW: In the syllabus, you recommend that students seek out clarification of difficult concepts from online resources such as Wikipedia and YouTube. What are the particular advantages of these resources?
Robbie Wilson: Early modules of advanced undergraduate seminars are often introductory and lay the foundation for more complex techniques or concepts to be introduced in later weeks. General resources like Wikipedia, Khan Academy, YouTube, and many others can provide succinct and informative material specifically tailored to non-experts. Academic publications, such as those analyzed during the semester, are often the complete opposite. They are commonly filled with technical jargon and expert terms that provide a barrier to active discussion in class, thereby hindering the central objective of each seminar.
We often recommend review articles based on the week’s topic as they are easier to digest and provide a superb background. However, academic reviews are time consuming to read, and most students are time-limited.
OCW: The topic for week 7 is “Addressing Climate Change.” How much of a role do you envision directed evolution as playing in efforts to address the climate crisis?
Robbie Wilson: The climate crisis can be summarized as two equally important problems that absolutely require cultural and technical solutions in the near and long term. The first is that the reduction of CO2 emissions requires innovations in how we produce and use energy. The second is that atmospheric CO2 removal requires innovations in how we use non-fossil energy to convert CO2 into non-biodegradable carbon. If you can think of a natural biological process or enzymatic action that could help either of these two problems, there is a good chance that the process can be improved or adapted using directed evolution. The applications are limited more by one’s imagination and creativity than by any specific framework that I could ever provide.
OCW: The class session in week 8 involved a “virtual field trip.” What did this entail, and how did it work?
Robbie Wilson: In this session a principal scientist at a local biotechnology company presented a short seminar on the technology and applications of directed evolution on the companies’ services and research goals. This was followed by a tour and discussion of the laboratory equipment that supports their directed evolution workflows. Usually these take place in person, but lingering issues with the pandemic prevented this from taking place.
OCW: What would you like to share about teaching 7.341 that we haven’t yet addressed?
Robbie Wilson: Megan and I had a great time teaching 7.341, and I hope the material we put together encourages curious minds to use directed evolution as a tool. It is crucial to reiterate that the course was designed to be discussion-focused. If you are viewing the material online as an individual I would recommend finding a peer or peers, and discussing one of the papers together, critiquing the methods and, using the information provided in the course, trying to come up with better or alternative ways to address the problems using directed evolution methods.
Curriculum Information
Prerequisites
Requirements Satisfied
Unrestricted elective credits
Offered
Advanced undergraduate seminars are offered nearly every semester and are on various topics. This was the first time this specific topic was offered.
Assessment
Grade Breakdown
The course is graded as “pass” or “fail.” A passing grade is given to students who attend the class, participate in discussions, and complete both assignments in a satisfactory manner.
Student Information
Enrollment
Fewer than 10 students
Breakdown by Year
Mostly fourth-year undergraduates.
Breakdown by Major
Roughly half biology majors, half biological engineering majors; one student was undertaking a joint computer science and biology major.
Typical Student Background
Most of the students were seniors and therefore familiar with advanced biological principles, and had enough grasp of molecular biology to understand the initial course content.
How Student Time Was Spent
During an average week, students were expected to spend 6 hours on the course, roughly divided as follows:
In Class
- Met once per week for 2 hours per session; 14 sessions total; mandatory attendance
- In the first part of each week’s class, students discussed and evaluated the papers that comprised the readings for the week.
- At the end of each class, the instructors gave a short introduction to the papers for the following week.
Out of Class
Each week, students read two papers from the primary research literature and critically evaluated these papers, focusing on experimental design, control experiments, methods, and interpretation of the data.
