| Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology
50 % Department of Food Science 10 % Department of Basic Science and Environment 40 % | |||||||||||||||||||
| Earliest Possible Year | MSc. 1 year | ||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | One block | ||||||||||||||||||
| Credits | 7.5 (ECTS) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Course Level | MSc | ||||||||||||||||||
| Examination | Final Examination written examination and oral examination All aids allowed Description of Examination: The exam is based on a final individual mini project which is delivered as a written report and as an oral 30 min presentation in plenum including discussion. The project is selected and approved by the corse responsible and shall not be directly linked to any of the previous exercise reports. Weight: Final individual oral presentation: 40% Written individual report of mini project: 60% pass/fail, internal examiner | ||||||||||||||||||
| Requirement For Attending Exam | Three out of five written reports must be passed. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Organisation of Teaching | 5-10 hours/week including lectures (2-4 hours) and exercises or demonstrations (max 8 hours). 16 hours/week for preparation and a project with computer searches. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Block Placement | Block 3 Week Structure: B Practicals in weeks 3,4,6 and 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Teaching Language | English | ||||||||||||||||||
| Optional Prerequisites | 230003 230010 Organic Chemistry and Spectroscopy 240007 Bioinformatics 1 230008 Chemistry of Macromolecules, Cofactors and Metal Ions in Biological Systems | ||||||||||||||||||
| Restrictions | 24 students. Exercises and demonstrations of instrumentation, some of which we have only a single instrument, limits the group size. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Course Contents | |||||||||||||||||||
| In all biological and food systems there are physical phenomena that are vital for their function. Macromolecules divides into different phases and in many cases they self-organise into functional units. These assemblies have many different specialized functions such as supportive structures, dividing and transporting structures, motors etc. Classical examples of such structures are proteins assemblies, e.g. metabolons, ribosomes and molecular pumps, carbohydrate assemblies including starch and cell wall structures and lipid membranes and micelles. In biotechnology biological macromolecules can be used to produce nano devices such as nanosensors and so-called nano-discs to deliver medicals or to measure metabolites directly in living cells. Nanotechnological tools can also be used to make small "lab-on-a-chip" devices, biochips, biosensors, arrays etc. used for biotechnological applications which are miniaturised laboratories at the nano and micro scales. The analysis of macromolecular and nano structures requires highly developed analytical technologies such as atomic force microscopy (AFM), radiation scattering effects (X-ray, light) and particle size dependent fluorescence utilized in the quantum-dot technology. In the first week of the course covers the basic terminology of nanobiotechnology. The next weeks cover different nano structures, including protein assemblies carbohydrate, lipid and specific mixed structures such as lipid bilayers functionalised by protein assemblies. Technologies required for nanobiotechnologal investigations are introduced together with the appropriate specific nano structures. These technologies include AFM, SEM, CLSM, radiation scattering, spectroscopy, optical tweezers, quantum dot technology, thermodynamics etc. A general theme throughout the course is the biological and genetic basis for the investigation and engineering of nanostructures. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Teaching And Learning Methods | |||||||||||||||||||
| The course includes lectures, exercises, demonstrations and a mini project. General principles analytical technologies and applications are covered by the lectures. Theoretical and hands-on exercises will give experience of the nanobiotechnologies. A separate mini project is selected to be reported in the end of the course. It includes web based information searches will permit to specialise and focus on a specific desired nanostructure or nanotechnological device supervised by a specialist. Typically, each type of nanostructure and technology is introduced in a lecture followed by and exersice or a demonstration on the generation and analysis of the structure or process. Interesting additional technologies are highlighted by specific lectures given by specialists. Many teachers, each specialised in a specific reserach field, participate in the course which is a fundamental requirement as a direct result of the cross-disciplinary nature of nanobiotechnology. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Learning Outcome | |||||||||||||||||||
| The main goal of the course Nanobiotechnology is to give biochemists and molecular biologists a general theoretical and practical introduction to nanobiotechnology. The course will cover the main fields in nanobiotechnology and address its cross disciplinary nature. It covers well the bio-to-nano concept that is, biological self-organising structures at the nano-scale. It also provides an introduction to nano-to-bio applications. At completion of the course the student should be able to: Knowledge: -Describe the main principles and terminology within nanobiotechnology. -Give an overview of the most important scanning and scattering nanotechnologies used for biotechnological purposes. Skills: -Apply selected scanning and scattering nanotechnologies. -describe methods of prediction of physical and thermodydamic effects in nano systems as well as in food and material applications. -Communicate about nanobiotechnology with persons familiar with nano- and biotechnology. Competences: -Recognise how to use nano-principles in biotechnology. -Evaluate nanobiotechnological systems for specific applications including array and dendrimer systems, assembly processes, catalytic activities, motion, recognition, sensing and biological functionalities. -Reflect over and discuss the societal impact of nanobiotechnology | |||||||||||||||||||
| Course Litterature | |||||||||||||||||||
| Soft Machines, Nanotechnology and Life, Richard Jones, ISBN 0 19 852855 8, OxfordPress, 2004 Scientific articles: covering recent relevant research not covered by the text book delivered at the course start. Material for exercises and demonstrations delivered at the course start. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Course Coordinator | |||||||||||||||||||
| Andreas Blennow, abl@life.ku.dk, Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology/Plant Biochemistry Laboratory, Phone: 35333334 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Study Board | |||||||||||||||||||
| Study Committee NSN | |||||||||||||||||||
| Course Scope | |||||||||||||||||||
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