Team:UC Berkeley/Team/Dirk VandePol



MY NAME/NICKNAME

Dirk VandePol. My closest friends call me El Presidente, but nobody in the lab calls me that.

MY STATS

I am a Wet Team Teacher Fellow, with IISME. Also: Instructor, Bio 11 ("science of living organisms" aka [UC Transferrable] College Bio for nonmajors), City College of San Francisco

WHAT LED ME TO SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY

I think synthetic biology is the coolest thing in the world. No exaggeration.

SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY: IN MY WORDS

Synthetic Biology is molecular biological engineering, with a focus on the principles of: -Helping mankind -Learning about basic principles of biology through serendipity -Standardization -Open Source -Innovation, and -Biofuels

MY POSSIBLE FUTURE WITH SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY

For as long as I am a teacher, I want to incorporate Synthetic Biology into my classes, doing the following things in the following order: 1) Give a synthetic biology lecture 2) Teach a synthetic biology unit within an introductory bio class 3) Teach a 3-unit class about synthetic biology 4) Create my own CCSF iGEM team

If I were ever to leave teaching to work in the private sector, I would want to use my knowledge to work for a synthetic biology based company such as Amyris, LS9, Solazyme, or Novazyme.

MY GOALS WITH IGEM

To bring the excitement of synthetic biology to my students this fall, of course.

MY FAVORITE DNA SEQUENCE

GFP. I think it's my example two out of every three times I lecture about gene expression. Alternatively, recombinant human insulin. That is my second most frequent lecture example.

MY DUMBEST LAB MISTAKE/COMPUTATIONAL ERROR

If I told you, I would be fired.

MY FAVORITE CHILDHOOD CARTOON

I am deeply ashamed of the childhood time I have wasted watching Bugs Bunny the Roadrunner, etc. However, I am much less ashamed of the time I wasted in my adult life watching the Simpsons. I may need to take a hard look at this.

MY FAVORITE FOOD

Either Korean Barbecue, Hawaiian Barbecue, or American Barbecue.

A BOARDWORTHY QUOTE

"We're engineers—we make it work." -Jin the Great.