General Information & Key Dates

Welcome to the HTBAA@BioClub Site! BioClub Tokyo is one of the Global Nodes of the growing HTGAA/HTBAA Network.

HTBAA - How to Biomanufacture Almost Anything - is a spin-off course from the larger HTGAA - How to Grow Almost Anything. HTBAA is shorter & less demanding, the goal is not to give an introduction to Synthetic Biology, but to focus on Biomanufacturing.

It’s a great place to get started, it’s recommended for students who want to take HTGAA later - and for HTGAA graduates who want to continue their journey on becoming a TA.

Upcoming

• Classes & Recitations are held on the HTBAA 26 Zoom, BioClub Reviews on the BioClub Zoom.
• Make sure to calculate your timezone correctly.

HTBAA 2026 Syllabus, Homework Information

HTBAA 2026 Syllabus & Info

Recordings

All the information, including homework assignments, recordsings, and slides will be shared on the HTBAA Pages. The table below also includes recordings of the BioClub Node Reviews.

About HTBAA 2026

This is the first version of the course, as the topics are quite avant-garde, please have patience with the organizer and the TA team. We are as excited as you to organize this course - but the experience might not be as polished as other courses. Which also means this is a great opportunity for involved and immersed learning. This course is a cool courses (in the sense of Marshal McLuhan’s distinction between hot & cool media).

Lectures and Recitations are shared globally from the MIT Course ‘How to Biomanufacture Almost Anything’, each node will organize additional Class & Homework Reviews session.

Welcome Committed Listeners

How does it work to become a Committed Listerner?

1. Apply to the Course
2. Join the Class #1
3. Submit the Homework for Week #1 until Sept 22nd 14:30 ET via the Google Form David sent out.
4. Indicate your desired node, check the Node Meetings Times before, for BioClub they are Mondays and Fridays from 16:00 - 17:00 JST.
5. Continue to making your Weekly Homework, and attend Node meetings to keep your CL Status.

Course Overview & Syllabus

• Class 1 (Sep 15): Course Overview and Introduction, Homework 1
• Class 2 (Sep 22): DNA Design & Applications: Joe Jacobson (MIT CBA) Slides, Traci Haddock (Asomiv), Homework 2
• Class 3 (Sep 29): Cell-Free Systems, Cloud Labs, & Field trip to Ginkgo Bioworks — Reshma Shetty (Ginkgo Bioworks)
• Class 4 (Oct 6): LAB #1: Cloud Lab Cell-Free Manufacturing
• NO CLASS (Oct 13)
• Class 5 (Oct 20): Digital Microfluidics & Final Project Crit #1 — Michael Chen (Nuclera)
• Class 6 (Oct 27): LAB #2: Microfluidic Cell-Free Manufacturing
• Class 7 (Nov 3): Measurement & Assays — Waters Corporation
• Class 8 (Nov 10): LAB #3: Microbial Manufacturing — (Patrick Boyle (ATCC), Margaret Saha (William & Mary))
• Class 9 (Nov 17): Genetic Circuit Design & Assembly (Ron Weiss, MIT)
• Class 10 (Nov 24): LAB #4: Mammalian Cell Manufacturing
• Class 11 (Dec 1): Non-Model Organisms (Henry Lee, Cultivarium)
• Class 12 (Dec 8): Final Project presentations

Committed Listener or Global Listener?

• The course can be taken in two modes. Either as a Global Listener to audit the course, or as a Committed Listener. Committed Listeners commit to watch the weekly lectures and recitations, do the weekly homework on time and actively participate in the local node (in this case: BioClub) meetings.

• Being a Committed Listener is hard. It will take time watch the lectures & recitations, to join the meetings and do the homework. You can also fall back to be a Global Listener if the workload will be too much.

Meeting Times

Global Schedule

• Class: Tuesdays 14:30-16:00 ET at MIT Zoom Wednesday 03:30 - 05:00 JST
• Recitation: Thursdays 17:00-18:00 ET at MIT Zoom Friday 06:00 - 07:00 JST

Global Calendart

A Global Goolge Calendar with all the meeting times for all the HTBAA 2026 nodes. Even if you are not a CL at BioClub Tokyo, you are always welcome to drop by to any review meeting.

BioClub Meeting Schedule

• BioClub Tokyo Class Reviews: Thursdays 16:00-17:00 JST at BioClub Zoom
• BioClub Tokyo Homework Reviews: Mondays 16:00-17:00 JST at BioClub Zoom

Active participation in the BioClub node meetings is a requirement for staying a Committed Listener. CLs are expected to participate in more than 50% of the node meetings. If this is not achievable, please choose another node.

BioClub TAs

If you are a HTGAA Graduate you are welcome to join HTBAA as a Committed TA (Teaching Assistant). Please join the lectures, the BioClub review session - and also prepare by doing the Weekly Homework. If you can not commit doing the homework, you can always join whenever you can as a Guest TA.

List of Committed TAs will be published after before Class 3.

Communications

Forum

Committed Listeners will be invited to the new & shiny HTGAA/HTBAA Forum. Please note, that you can only get access after you have been confirmed as a CL. If you have any questions in the meantime, ask them in Zoom chat in the classes/recitations - or get in touch with the node you are planning to attend.

Hall

Another shiny, new and experimental thing for 2026 is the HTBAA Hall. After logging in with your credentianl you can experience a Virtual Office/World, where all the HTBAA/HTGAA content is available to explore, including a socratic tutor called ‘Rosalind’.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to participate in HTBAA?

The global costs for HTBAA is free, if there is a critical mass of in-person node students, the lab excercise can also be done. For these, additional costs might occur.

How does the selection process for Committed Listener work?

The Node Organizer and Node TA will go over the application and select the participants, who will be the best fit for the course.

How does the Node Selection for Committed Listeners work?

Committed Listerners need to join Lecture 1, Recitation 1 and do the Homework of Week 1. Then you will be given the chance to join a node. By then you should also have all the node info, including meetings times, if the node is online-only, or if there will be local experiements.

Can I get a certificate for completing the course?

HTBAA does not issue certificates at this point. Your documentation pages and the listing of your name & documentation on the node and global HTBAA sites will be proof for your participation & completion.

Can I be a Committed Listener and NOT join Node Meetings?

No. Attendance at Node Meetings and active participation is a requirement for Committed Listeners. You can miss the occianial meeting, but if you do not particpate in the node meetings, your status as Committed Listerner will be revoked.

Do Global Listener need to attend Node Meetings?

No. Global Listener are not attached to any node, they will not have space on the HTBAA webserver to publish and document their homework. It is however encouraged to document and publish your homework on your own web space - if you decidede to take the course as a CL, it will become much easier the second time around.

Do I need to join all the Lectures and Recitation live?

You absolutely need to join the first weeks Lecture and Recitation - if you want to become a Committed Listener. We will check attendance. Subsequent lectures can be watched recorded - but they need to be watched before any Node Class Review Meetings.

How can I reach BioClub Tokyo if I have any questions?

Please join our BioClub Discord, and post any question you might have in the #htgaa Project Channel.

I don’t know how to use Markdown and the edit.htgaa.org platform to upload my homework? Can anyone anyone help me?

In the Week 1 recitation you will be given an introduction on how to use edit.htgaa.org and upload your homework. Please note that your homework can only be uploaded using this platform. Please don’t sent us link to other webpages. You should ask for help on the Forum or your Node meeting. Here is also a short intro to get you started: https://htbaa.bioclub.tokyo/2026/pages

What is the ‘MIT 5’ or ‘MIT time’?

MIT time means that all lectures and meetings start 5 minutes after the announcet time, so if a lecture is announced at 14:30, it will start at 14:35. Comparable to the ‘academic quarter’(“Akademische Vierterstunde”) in many european universities, where everything starts 15 minutes after the announced time.