Laboratory Research and Biotechnology

This course focuses on the principles and basic procedures used in the laboratory, and laboratory math. Topics include laboratory safety, WHMIS, laboratory calculations, water quality and reagent preparation, operation and maintenance of microscopes, balances, pH meters, spectrophotometers and other related laboratory equipment. Emphasis will be placed on accurate and complete documentation methods.

This course provides an introduction to the major groups of organisms (prokaryotes, protists, plants, fungi, invertebrates, vertebrates): their evolutionary relationships, major adaptations, and reproductive strategies. Topics include the origins of life, evolutionary principles, and embryonic development and life cycles of select organisms. The course also introduces important model organisms used in laboratories and explains their characteristics and how they are used in research. The practical component of the course provides an introduction to the scientific method and techniques for working with live and prepared organisms.

This course focuses on basic inorganic chemistry concepts related to chemical formulas, bonding, aqueous solutions, reactions and equilibrium. The organic chemistry portion of the course focuses on nomenclature, structure and physical and chemical properties of biological and environmentally important organic compounds. Laboratory work includes evaluation of properties, reactions and methods of titration of inorganic chemical materials. To emphasize organic chemistry concepts, laboratory exercises include extraction, identification and synthesis of organic compounds.

Students will develop their written and oral communication skills by writing, editing, reviewing, and presenting various forms of technical communications including workplace correspondence, short technical reports, and formal technical reports. Students will use MS Office applications to create and import graphs and tables into a document, as well as apply standard formatting conventions, desktop publishing and mail merge functions. Students will also learn to create and use appropriate and effective audio/visual aids to deliver oral presentations during classes.

This course focuses on the tools and methods used to study the microbial world. An overview of the vast diversity of microorganisms is provided as well as a comparison of the distinguishing characteristics of bacteria, archaea, fungi, prions and viruses. Other topics include techniques for cultivating microorganisms, handling and disposing of biohazardous materials, and controlling microbial growth. This course introduces classic strategies used in applied microbiology and environmental microbiology to identify, characterize and quantify microbes.

Biochemistry is a blend of biology and chemistry and often deals with the structures, functions and interactions of the molecules of life such as carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and proteins. This course examines the role of structure and chemical properties in determining function and has an emphasis on protein science. The structure-function roles are further examined from a view of protein purification, enzyme kinetics, inhibition and regulation. The course also has a laboratory component with an emphasis on biomolecule purification and the properties and actions of enzymes.

This course introduces students to principles of Quality Assurance and Quality Control in the laboratory. Additionally students will learn and apply Biosafety, Radiation Safety and Occupational Health and Safety regulations. Students will learn to calibrate and maintain, and correctly use common laboratory equipment and will engage in lab management activities including using LIMS software. Students will also learn about types of advanced microscopy and perform immunofluorescence microscopy.

This course focuses on the physiology of various vertebrate systems including the nervous, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, endocrine, and reproductive systems. Topics will also include the integration of systems to maintain homeostasis and a comparison of different vertebrate systems to one another. Laboratory exercises which stress form and function are comparative in nature using fish, birds and mammals as representative examples.

In this course, students build upon the knowledge and skills learned in MICB1560– Introduction to Microbiology. Major topics include the metabolic diversity of bacteria, the mathematics of growth, microbial gene transfer and recombination, regulation of gene expression, and the basics of intracellular microbes including chlamydias and rickettsias, viruses, and prions. In the laboratory, students expand their knowledge of basic microbiology laboratory techniques including isolating a pure culture from a mixed population, cultivating and quantifying bacteriophages, culturing and identification of molds, use of a growth curve to determine generation times, and isolating and characterizing a bacterial isolate which breaks down common environmental pollutants.

This introductory course focuses upon organizing data and selecting appropriate statistical tests for biological data. Descriptive statistics from samples and populations are used to organize raw data from databases into summaries, tables and charts. Confidence intervals for means, proportions and regression lines are calculated and interpreted. Normal, Binomial, Poisson, and Chi Distributions are studied. Fundamental principles of experimental design are explained and applied. Hypothesis tests are conducted on biological data sets with particular focus on career relevant scenarios (traditional non parametric and parametric testing Z test, t-tests, correlations, regressions, one-way and two-way ANOVA, Chi2, post hoc contrasts, etc.,). Analyses are performed manually or using commonly available software with various demo software introduced for awareness.

This course covers the elements of laboratory animal care and handling. The animal care section of the course is based on the syllabus developed by the Canadian Council on Animal Care. Topics include the ethics of animal use, animal housing, breeding, and handling. The biology and behavior of select species is also discussed. In addition, students will handle animals, care for animals in a facility, and practice simple restraint techniques.

This course focuses on the concepts of recombinant DNA technology and its applications in biotechnology. Differences between prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems will be explored. In the laboratory students will isolate plasmid and genomic DNA, perform transformations, restriction enzyme digests, ligations and electrophoresis. Additionally, PCR techniques and troubleshooting will be covered in detail.

A lecture and laboratory course that deals with the basic methodology of cell and organ culture for plant and animal tissues. Laboratory exercises for mammalian cell culture include establishment of primary cell lines, subculture and maintenance of cell lines, cell cloning and characterization, mycoplasma screening, as well as cell preservation by freezing. During plant cell culture laboratory exercises, plant callus and explants are regenerated, in addition to protoplast fusion.

This course provides an introduction to computational biology. Students will be introduced to a variety of software and online databases to explore topics such as nucleic acid and protein sequence analysis (DNA and protein sequence alignment and database searching), protein in silico analysis (including prediction of post-translational modifications and other characteristics), and three dimensional modelling of macromolecules.

This course provides an introduction to the structure and function of eukaryotic cells at a molecular level. Major topics include cell membranes and organelles, transport, the cytoskeleton and cell movement, regulation of chromatin structure and gene expression, protein folding, cell signaling, cell division, cell death, and oncogenic transformation.

This course introduces the fundamental principles of spectroscopy and chromatographic separations as they relate to the instrumental analysis of biological molecules. UV-Visible, fluorescence, IR, NMR and ICP are explained and these spectroscopic techniques are used in both the qualitative and quantitative analyses of unknown samples. The separation processes in gas and liquid chromatography and the basics of mass spectrometry as used in conjunction with LC are explained and these techniques are used in the qualitative and quantitative analyses of unknown samples.

This course provides a practical introduction to anesthesia and basic surgery in rodents. Students practice procedures including basic aseptic surgical techniques, anesthesia, blood collection, organ removal, and organ bath studies.

This immunology course stresses the fundamental concepts of innate and specific immunity, including the biology of lymphocytes, the structure and diversity of antibodies, the applications of immunoassays, and clinical immunology such as hypersensitivity, immunodeficiencies and autoimmune disorders. Laboratory exercises include cell differentials, and various serological techniques such as production and purification of polyclonal antibodies, SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, Western blotting, ELISA, immunohistochemistry, flow cytometry and a variety of immunoprecipitations, agglutinations, and immunodiffusions.

Building on the concepts of BIOL1788 and BIOL2426, this course will provide students with a foundation in practical aspects of computational biology (bioinformatics, genomics, proteomics) PCR primer design and optimization will be covered in theory and practice. The relevance of PCR will be highlighted with several applications of this technique including DNA sequencing, scanning mutagenesis, cloning and subcloning and gene expression analysis. Techniques for, gene editing and epigenetic modification measurement will be discussed.

This course is designed to give students experience in researching and presenting scientific literature, designing and creating a research proposal, and implementing a research project. Students conduct their research and write a technical paper summarizing their results as part of a team.

Interpersonal and teamwork skills required in the workplace will be developed through various activities; peer evaluation will be implemented to assess these skills. Safe work practices and professional behaviour related to the biotechnology field will be discussed and demonstrated within the classroom setting. Students will investigate organizations and publications relevant to research in the biotechnology field, and will demonstrate knowledge of ethics in the biological research field. Organisational behaviour, time management, prioritization, budgeting, and other aspects of today’s workplace will be explored.

A theory and laboratory course that deals with applications of microbiology in industry and research. Topic areas include growth and fermentation technology, sampling, isolation, enrichment, and enumeration methods, food and water microbiology, bioremediation, toxicity testing methods, quality assurance in microbiology, and HACCP.