Molecular Technologies I

Year 1: Fall semester, 1 credit

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About the Course

The primary goal of Molecular Technologies I is to teach effective communication, basic science theory & practice, to prepare you for future classes in the M.S. degree program, and a future role in the biotechnology workforce. Its secondary, but equally important goal, is to teach you the vocabulary of biotechnology and the science that underlies it.

In the Scientific Communication part of the course you will learn processes that enable you to: write and maintain a laboratory notebook, write strong essays and papers, use fundamental principles of good speaking to give effective presentations, use MS PowerPoint, write technical protocols, and plan and prepare laboratory meetings and team presentations that gives you the opportunity to present your work to others for analysis and discussion.

The Science part of the course is played-out in a hypothetical scenario and emphasizes strong scientific conduct, data analysis, and critical thinking. Students play the role of 'staff scientists' in a contract research organization (CRO) called ProGene. The 'staff scientists' will be divided into two lab groups and each group will be assigned to evaluate the technical merits and feasibility of adoption of different mutation detection technologies, to potentially add as a fee-for-service by our CRO to clinical and diagnostic customers. The members of the DNA group will evaluate either the Invader technology from Third Wave Technologies or the TaqMan technology from Applied Biosystems to detect mutations in the Factor V gene. The members of the RNA group will evaluate either the Plexor qRT-PCR system from Promega or SYBR Green qRT-PCR using dye from Invitrogen to detect the brc/abl chromosomal translocation.

To evaluate the technologies, 'staff scientists' will perform methods including nucleic acid purification, quantitation & analysis, and either PCR or RT-PC-based methods to analyze Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) or chromosomal translocations using the above mentioned technologies.

When this work is completed, the four groups of 'staff scientists' will prepare collaborative presentations to discuss the merits and challenges of these four different methodologies evaluated. In the team meeting you will present the technology evaluated, results and data analysis, and the features and benefits, as well as disadvantages, of the technology. You will use your findings to make specific recommendations as to whether or not the technologies should be adopted in the CRO as fee-for-service tests offered to our clinical and diagnostic customers.