In the MIT Media Lab global synthetic biology course How To Grow (Almost) Anything, students from MIT, Harvard, and a global classroom of hundreds learn concepts and skills at the forefront of synthetic biology. Topics include DNA and protein design with AI tools to organism engineering and bio design, with students developing hands-on skills enabling them to grow (almost) anything by the end of the course. However, during the pandemic, with laboratories closed, our instructor team was forced to innovate, and we taught our students lab automation and python, enabling them to conduct experiments from (almost) anywhere. From this experience we developed a model for distance-learning and synthetic biology education utilizing a robotic cloud lab network. In this talk, I will discuss our work in establishing this network, collaborative group research projects enabled by this cloud lab, and our visions for the future for how such infrastructure can address challenges in bioliteracy and workforce development for building our future bio economy.

Learning Objectives: 

1. Review how robotics can enable distance learning.

2. Summarize concepts at the frontiers of synthetic biology education.

3. Discover models for project and passion-driven learning.