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This course aims to familiarize students with basic concepts in the field of synthetic biology. An overview of the theory and practice of making reengineered and artificial biological devices will be presented, and their ethical implications explored. Fundamental engineering principles of modularity, standardization, and abstraction hierarchy will be emphasized. To concretize the application of these principles, the design of a subset of nucleic acid and protein-based devices, as well artificial cells, tissues, and organisms will be discussed in some detail. Basic techniques used to engineer these synthetic systems will also be introduced. One of the classes will involve a visit to a state-of-the-art synthetic biology lab on the Johns Hopkins medical campus, where students will be able to implement and visualize the output of a protocol for reengineering a cellular device in real time. By the end of the course, it is expected that students will be to conceptualize the design of a device of their choice, and to formulate a sound strategy for building such a device. There will be field trip one day during the normal class times to the JHMI campus. The students will take the Homewood/Peabody/JHMI shuttle.