Related Course/s:

A unit of study in the Bachelor of Engineering (Biotechnology), Bachelor of Engineering (Biotechnology)/Bachelor of Science (Biotechnology), Bachelor of Science (Biotechnology), Bachelor of Science (Biotechnology)/Bachelor of Business,
, Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry and Chemistry),
Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry/Chemistry)(Honours) and Bachelor of Science (Biotechnology)/Bachelor of Arts (Media & Communications).

Aims & Objectives:

In this unit of study students will learn how basic science is applied in biotechnology to the development of products, process and services. Students will also learn about the role of biotechnology in preserving/improving the environment and sustainability. Students will also be introduced to ethical issues in relation to biotechnology.

At the end of this unit students will be able to:

• Describe particular applications of biotechnology .
• Be able to answer questions relating to biotechnology industry practices and standards.
• Be able to describe protocols for producing polyclonal and monoclonal antibody reagents.
• Be able to design an appropriate immunodiagnostic assay for a particular analyte.
• Be able to select an appropriate expression system for a particular protein product and be able to describe the requirements and operation of particular expression systems.
• Be able to describe and understand the requirements and applications of eukaryote cell culture.
• Be able to understand biotransformation as a process.

Content:

• Genetic engineering of microbes, plants and mammalian cells: methodology and applications, recombinant protein production, directed mutagenesis and protein engineering, transgenic animals.
• Functional and structural genomics, proteomics and related bioinformatics.
• Ethical Issues related to biotechnology.
• Environmental roles of biotechnology, sustainable development, bioremediation and biomass utilisation.
• Downstream processing.
• Immunology and Immunochemistry and their applications in chemical and biochemical analyses.
• Spectroscopic analytical methods including NMR and advances in mass spectrometry, ultra-fast laser spectroscopy, MRI and other imaging methods.
• Contemporary techniques in biochemistry e.g. laser confocal microscopy, biochips, microarrays and combinatorial arrays, nanotechnology and molecular motors.
• Patenting and protection of ideas.