Free, deep STEM education for students who don't have a mentor, a lab, or a textbook that respects them.

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Scroll · the strands continue
01 / Mission

Built the resource I needed.

Zylif started because the resources I needed didn't exist in a form I could use. The good textbooks were expensive. The free ones were written for someone older, with a class and a lab already around them. Nobody was writing for the kid teaching themselves at a kitchen table.

So I wrote that version instead, and kept going until there were five tracks and forty-eight modules. It's the curriculum a curious kid would pick up if nothing got in the way. Now nothing does.

"When you don't have a mentor, half the work is just figuring out what you don't know yet." — the founder
02 / The curriculum tree

Start at the root.
Branch where you want.

Foundations is the shared spine. Every specialization assumes it. Pick a branch after — or all of them.

Start here · prerequisite for every track
F-01 ⟶ F-06 · CORE SPINE Read first

Foundations

Six modules covering the shared scaffolding every other track returns to — molecular biology, cell systems, biochemistry, scientific reasoning, and how to read a paper. Without this, the rest is harder than it has to be.

6 modules · ~28,000 words Free · No login
G-01 ⟶ G-13

Genomics

From base pairs to GWAS — the language of inheritance, dissected. Twelve modules on sequencing, variation, and population genetics.

12 modules
M-01 ⟶ M-12

Marine Biology

Twelve modules. Reef ecology, deep-sea pressure systems, fisheries collapse, and the policy underneath.

12 modules
P-01 ⟶ P-08

Biotech Policy

Eight modules on CRISPR governance, FDA regulatory gaps, dual-use research, and the public-health law that shapes what science is allowed to do.

8 modules · Hodge-aligned
B-01 ⟶ B-09

Biotech

The synthesis layer. CRISPR mechanics, gene therapy, regulatory architecture. Nine modules culminating in B9 — a capstone you could put in front of a research mentor.

9 modules · ~52,000 words
03 / By the numbers

What "free and deep" measures.

05tracks
Complete tracks
Foundations, Genomics, Marine Bio, Policy, Biotech.
48
Modules shipped
Original — not aggregated or summarized.
~200K
Words of curriculum
Roughly two trade paperbacks of original writing.
$0
Cost to a student
No login wall. No subscription. No "pro" tier.
04 / Where it leads

A track is a door.
Here's the room behind it.

No module here promises a job. What it gives you is the vocabulary, the mental models, and a capstone you can put in front of a mentor — so you walk into a lab, an internship, or an application and aren't starting from zero. Each track opens onto real fields.

Genomics

Bioinformatics · clinical variant analysis · population genetics · genetic counseling

The capstone reasons about variant data the way an entry-level analyst does. Pairs with a CS or wet-lab background.

Marine Biology

Field ecology · fisheries science · conservation policy · oceanography

Reef and deep-sea systems plus the law underneath them — the gap most intro courses skip.

Biotech

Industry R&D · process / manufacturing · regulatory affairs · venture & startups

Ends on a venture-design capstone — a defensible product concept, not a book report.

Biotech Policy

Science policy · bioethics · law / pre-law · public health & biosecurity

FDA pathways, dual-use research, and public-health law — written for people who'll argue about them.

↳ Not sure where to start?

Pick by where you want to end up.

Every path starts at Foundations — the shared spine. After that, follow the route that matches your goal.

  • Medicine / pre-healthFoundations → Genomics → Biotech Policy
  • Research / lab scienceFoundations → Genomics → Biotech
  • Environment / conservationFoundations → Marine Biology
  • Law / policy / ethicsFoundations → Biotech Policy
  • Industry / startupsFoundations → Biotech → Biotech Policy
05 / Where to study it

The same fields,
with a campus attached.

This is a map, not a ranking. The point is to know what a field is called when you apply, and a few places that do it well — a starting line for your own research, not a list of the only doors worth knocking on. Public, in-state, and transfer routes count just as much.

Genomics

Majors to search for

Genetics & Genomics · Molecular & Cell Biology · Bioinformatics · Computational Biology · Biochemistry

Programs known for it

Several of the strongest genomics programs are public flagships. You don't need a private school for excellent training.

Marine Biology

Majors to search for

Marine Biology · Marine Science · Oceanography · Aquatic Biology · Ecology & Evolution

Programs known for it

Coastal publics with field stations often beat big names for hands-on work — and in-state tuition keeps them reachable.

Biotech

Majors to search for

Bioengineering / Biomedical Engineering · Biotechnology · Chemical Engineering · Molecular Biology · Synthetic Biology

Programs known for it

Most of these are engineering majors. Pair the biology with math and a little code and you're a strong applicant anywhere.

Biotech Policy

Majors to search for

Science, Technology & Society · Bioethics · Public Health · Public Policy / Political Science · Health & Societies

Programs known for it

Often this is a science degree plus a policy or ethics minor — or an interdisciplinary major. Pre-law is a natural fit too.

Foundations isn't a major — it's the prep that makes every one of these legible. The shared spine you start on here is the reason a genetics lecture or a policy paper reads as followable instead of foreign.

↳ The part nobody tells you

How to actually use a list like this without a counselor.

If you don't have someone walking you through college, prestige lists can do more harm than good. Here's what matters more than the ranking — the same advice a good mentor would give you, for free.

  • 01 Your state flagship first. A strong program at in-state tuition is the highest-leverage move you can make. The logo matters far less than you've been told.
  • 02 A capstone beats a brand name. What you can show beats where you studied. A finished project — like a Zylif track capstone — gives a professor or admissions reader something real to react to.
  • 03 Email a lab. Professors list their emails on department pages. A short, specific note about their actual research is how undergrads get into labs — often as early as first year.
  • 04 Transfer is a real route. Two years at community college, then transfer into a public university for the degree. Same diploma, a fraction of the cost. Plenty of scientists started exactly there.
  • 05 Read the net price, not the sticker. Every U.S. college has a net-price calculator on its site. Aid routinely makes an "expensive" school cheaper than a state option. Never rule one out on the sticker alone.
  • 06 Finish the track you're on. Every field above starts at the same place: actually understanding the science. That's what this site is for — and it's the one part fully in your control today.
06 / Origin

A kid from India who moved here and taught himself the science nobody around him knew.

From the founder

I grew up in India and moved to the US partway through school. I was into biology the way some kids are into a sport — all the time, for no practical reason, with nobody at home who could answer my questions. The books I actually wanted were out of reach, so I made do with whatever I could get my hands on.

The further I got, the clearer one thing became. The free stuff wasn't weak because it was free. It was weak because it assumed you already had what I didn't: a class, a teacher, a lab down the hall. None of it was written for a kid who just wanted to understand how CRISPR actually works and had no one to ask.

So I wrote it for a younger version of me, and for the kid in my own family coming up behind me with the same questions. That's why the modules read the way they do: assume nothing, explain everything, talk to you like you're smart. If it works for one curious twelve-year-old, it works for the next one who stumbles onto it through a search result and reads the whole thing on their phone.

That's the whole thing, really. The science was never the hard part. Getting it to land — so you finish a module feeling smarter instead of more lost — is what took two years to get right.

Open the textbook you needed.

Browse all five tracks