Module BIOL3511: Biotechnology

Department: Biological and Biomedical Sciences

BIOL3511: Biotechnology

Prerequisites

• Biochemistry AND Molecular Biology.

Corequisites

• At least one other Level 3 Biology module.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To understand the processes of recombinant protein production on an industrial scale.
• To understand concepts and applications of plant genetic engineering for improved crops.
• To realise the potential of engineering key pathways in microbes for the production of proteins of biotechnological importance and as drug targets.
• To understand the need for new antibiotics and the difficulties associated with their discovery.

Content

• Expression systems and protein engineering.
• Plant transformation and applications.
• Crop biotechnology and engineering for pest resistance.
• Directed evolution in protein engineering.
• Metallo-proteins and their biotechnological application.
• Antibiotics; action, resistance and discovery.
• Bacterial quorum-sensing systems.

Learning Outcomes

• Ability to explain the strategies used for recombinant protein production.
• Describe the techniques used in plant transformation and understand their application.
• Knowledge of strategies and technologies for engineering pest resistance in transgenic crops.
• The use of directed evolution, harnessing the power of natural selection, to evolve nucleic acids or proteins with desirable properties not found in nature.
• To understand why and how microbes acquire metals and how these metallo-proteins can be exploited in biotechnological applications.
• To understand the mechanisms of action of antibiotics; how antibiotic resistance comes about, and the approaches for the discovery of new antibiotics.
• To evaluate components of bacterial signalling pathways for use as biosensors or as targets for antibiotics.

• Students will learn the basis of transformation.
• An appreciation of the steps needed to use biotechnology to improve plants and microbes for industrial application.
• To appreciate the difficulties associated with the discovery of novel antibiotics.

• Extract, compile and review relevant scientific information from various sources and evaluate them critically.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures, Unseen exam and Data handling.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

None.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University