ECTS credits ECTS credits: 4.5
ECTS Hours Rules/Memories Hours of tutorials: 2 Expository Class: 23 Interactive Classroom: 18 Total: 43
Use languages Spanish, Galician
Type: Ordinary Degree Subject RD 1393/2007 - 822/2021
Departments: Microbiology and Parasitology, Functional Biology
Areas: Microbiology, Plant Physiology
Center Faculty of Pharmacy
Call: Second Semester
Teaching: With teaching
Enrolment: Enrollable
Students will know the applications of Biotechnology in the Health area, with special emphasis on the application of genetic engineering techniques in the development of new pharmaceutical products. The fundamentals of these processes and their present and future possibilities will be analysed.
The fundamental content of this discipline is the part of biotechnology known as Red Biotechnology, and refers to the biotechnological applications for the human and animal health, which include different technologies. The subject is divided in three parts:
In the first part, there will be a very brief review about biotechnology and its application to obtain drugs.
In the second part we will assess the study of genetic engineering techniques from a basic and advanced point of view and the use of those techniques to produce drugs. Nowadays genetic engineering is essential for pharmaceutical industry since it improves the yield of the classical fermentation processes such as production of antibiotics, vitamins, steroids, etc. and it allows the cutting-edge development of drugs. Thus, hormones, vaccines, antibodies, interferons are produced by fermentation. In this part we will focus on molecular cloning and its biotechnological application to obtain biotechnological products or to perform genetic edition and other applications.
In the third part, we will address the biotechnology applied to the plants, accomplishing the production and characterization of transgenic plants and their multiple applications in improving the yield and quality of species of socio-economic interest and the use of plants as biofactories to obtain products with nutritional and sanitary interest.
Theory program:
TOPIC 1. Introduction to Biotechnology. Historical Development. Classification. Biotechnology in the Pharmaceutical Industry.
TOPIC 2. Industrial Microbiology. Industrial Technology and Processes. Microbial Biomass. Bioconversions. Primary Metabolites. Secondary Metabolites. Examples of Interest in Biotechnology.
TOPIC 3. Recombinant DNA Technology (I). Basic Techniques and Historical Development of Recombinant DNA Technology. Plasmid Vectors. Enzymes of Interest. Bacterial Transformation. Impact on the Biotechnology Industry and Milestones.
TOPIC 4. Recombinant DNA Technology (II). Advanced Techniques in Genetic Engineering. Cloning Strategies. Obtaining Recombinant DNA. Types of Cloning Vectors. Selection of Microbial and Mammalian Expression Systems. Optimization of Heterologous Expression in Microorganisms. Introduction of Vectors into the Host. Selection of Recombinants.
TOPIC 5. Gene Editing. Transgenic Animals. Gene Therapy. Examples of Interest in Biotechnology.
TOPIC 6. Recombinant Vaccines. Concepts and Examples of Interest in Biotechnology.
TOPIC 7. Recombinant Antibodies. Concepts and Examples of Interest in Biotechnology.
TOPIC 8. Plant Biotechnology in the Pharmaceutical Industry. Plant Transformation. Plants as Bioreactors.
Laboratory program:
Genetic engineering. Process design. Basic techniques. Molecular cloning and expression of genes in bacteria using recombinant DNA technology.
Analysis of gene expression in plants using Real-time PCR.
Basic bibliography:
Clark, D. P. & Pazdernik, N. J. (2016) Biotechnology. Second edition. London: Academic Cell. Available on-line.
Brieva, H. M. (2018) Fundamentos de biotecnología farmacéutica. Madrid: Dextra Editorial. Available on-line.
Howard, J. A. & Hood, E. E. (2014) Commercial plant-produced recombinant protein products : case studies. Berlin: Springer.
Jiang, L. & Kermode, A. R. (eds.) (2018) Molecular pharming: applications, challenges, and emerging areas. New Jersey: Wiley Blackwell. Available on-line.
Thieman, W. J. & Palladino, M. A. (2010) Introducción a la biotecnología. Segunda edición. Madrid: Pearson Educación. Available on-line.
Complementary bibliography:
Glick, B.R., Pasternak, J.J., Cheryl, L. (2010) Molecular biotechnology: principles and applications of recombinant DNA. 4th ed. Washington, DC: ASM Press. Available on-line.
Srivastava, S. & Narula, A. (2005) Plant Biotechnology and Molecular Markers. 1st edition. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. Available on-line.
Online resources:
The virtual classroom will include materials prepared by teachers and links to online resources.
Knowledge:
Con 01. Know the origin, nature, and how to design, obtain, analyze, control and produce active ingredients, drugs and medicines, as well as other products and raw materials of health interest for human or veterinary use.
Con 19. Understand the structures of biomolecules and their transformations in the cell.
Con 29. Know the basic operations and technological processes related to the manufacture and control of medicines
Skills or abilities:
H/A 15. Develop skills to identify therapeutic targets and biotechnological production of drugs, as well as the use of gene therapy.
Competences
Instrumental competences:
Comp 03. Oral and written communication in one's own language.
Comp 05. Basic computer skills. Comp 06. Information management skills (ability to search for and analyze information from miscellaneous sources).
Comp 07. Problem solving.
Systemic competences:
Comp 11. Teamwork.
Comp 18. Ability to apply knowledge in practice.
Comp 22. Ability to generate new ideas (creativity).
Comp 26. Design and project management.
To support teaching, a virtual classroom will be available on the Moodle platform of the Virtual Campus, to which teaching material will be uploaded and which will be used as a means of communication with students.
1. Lectures. Synchronous face-to-face teaching in the classroom. Theory lectures given by the teaching staff supported by modern audiovisual techniques, combined with oral presentations by the students.
2. Seminars. Synchronous face-to-face teaching in the classroom. Throughout the course, questions and problems that students must answer individually or as a team will be provided, and they will be delivered through the virtual classroom to be corrected by the teachers. Debates and games (gamification) will be held to encourage learning of certain aspects of the subject.
3. Laboratory Practices.
Microbiology area: Compulsory in which each student must prepare their own work material and must carry out the proposed experimental assays individually. Students will have a script on the Virtual Campus in which they will find all the information to complete the practices successfully. On the last day of practices, a questionnaire will be carried out, the grade obtained will be included in the final evaluation.
Plant Physiology Area: compulsory in which each student must carry out the experimental part and interpret the results individually. They will be carried out in person in the laboratory and evaluated through questions formulated at the end of the practice sessions.
4. Tutorships: Face-to-face in the classroom.
The grade for each of the blocks (Microbiology and Plant Physiology) will be broken down as follows:
a) Final exam (program content): 60%
b) Continuous assessment: A continuous assessment will be carried out, which will account for 40% of the final grade. The following aspects will be assessed:
1. Seminars: presentations, report cards, questionnaires, etc.: 15%
2. Practical assignments: 15%. Mandatory. Assessment with questions at the end of the practical assignments and/or with questions on the final exam.
3. Other assignments: 10%. Attendance, attitude, and participation in class will be assessed, as well as the implementation and content of the various activities scheduled during the course.
For students who have been exempted from attendance, the assessment will consist of the final exam (85%) and laboratory exercises (15%).
In all cases, the grade on the theoretical exams must be equal to or higher than 4 out of 10 in order for the remaining merits to be included in the continuous assessment. The student's final grade will be the sum of the weighted grades obtained for the continuous assessment and the final exam in each subject. The Microbiology block accounts for two-thirds of the final grade, and the Plant Physiology block accounts for one-third. To pass the course, a minimum of five (unweighted) points must be obtained in each of the blocks.
On the second assessment occasion of the academic year, only the theory exam will be administered, and the grade corresponding to the continuous assessment will be retained. If the student passes only one block on the first assessment occasion, this grade will be retained only for the second assessment occasion.
The practical grade will be retained for the following two academic years if the student fails the subject.
The assessment of the knowledge, skills, and competencies acquired in the course will be carried out through the following methods:
1. On the exam: Con 01, Con 29, Con 19, Comp 07, Comp 18.
2. In laboratory practices: Comp 07, Comp 18.
3. In interactive classes: H/05, Con 01, Con 29, Comp 07, Comp 18.
For cases of fraudulent performance of exercises or tests, the provisions of the "Regulations for evaluating students' academic performance and reviewing grades " will apply.
In-class hours:
Lectures: 23
Seminars: 7
Laboratory: 11
Tutorials, exams: 3.5
Student personnel work hours:
Studio: 40
Laboratory: 2
Seminars, works: 25
Total: 112.5 hours.
Attendance to class and continuous monitoring of the subject, both in the case of face-to-face and remote teaching.
Active participation in seminars.
Maria Del Carmen Rodriguez Gacio
- Department
- Functional Biology
- Area
- Plant Physiology
- mdelcarmen.rodriguez.gacio [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: Temporary PhD professor
Javier Dubert Perez
- Department
- Microbiology and Parasitology
- Area
- Microbiology
- Category
- PROFESOR/A PERMANENTE LABORAL
| Tuesday | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 15:00-16:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Spanish | 5035 CLASSROOM 8 Faculty of Labour Relations |
| Friday | |||
| 15:00-16:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Spanish | 5035 CLASSROOM 8 Faculty of Labour Relations |