Introduction to Biotechnology Techniques and Tools

Welcome to week 2. This week, we are going to talk about biotechnology principles, techniques and tools. The dawn of modern biotechnology started with two crucial technologies: genetic engineering and chemical engineering. Working in combination, the technologies change the chemistry of the genetic material such that when they are introduced into the host, the host phenotype changes. Several commonly used biotechnological tools are introduced herein, exclusive of CRISPR, a gene-editing technology. Students are encouraged to explore it further.

Biotechnology uses knowledge from a variety of disciplines such as molecular biology, biochemistry, chemistry, microbiology, chemical engineering and digital computing. Techniques and tools introduced herein include, recombinant DNA, gene splicing, monoclonal antibody, chimerization, polymerase chain reaction, glycosylation, pegylation, and last but not the least, bioinformatics. Of the techniques and the tools summarized, r-DNA, gene splicing and plant bioengineering were illustrated in some detail.

Reading reference:

• Allen LV, Popovich NG, Ansel HC Ansel’s Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms and Drug Delivery Systems. 9th ed. Baltimore, MD: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins; 2010. ISBN: 0-7817-4612-4 (Chap 19)
• Crommelin, DJA, Sindelar, RD, Meibohm, B. Pharmaceutical Biotechnology: Fundamentals and Applications, 3rd Ed. Informa Healthcare, 2007. ISBN 9781420044379 (Chap 1, 4, 5, 6, 22)
• Firdos Alam Khan. Biotechnology Fundamentals, CRC Press, 2012. ISBN 978-1-4398-2009-4
• Chap 5, Crommelin, DJA, Sindelar, RD, Meibohm, B. Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, 3rd Ed; Informa Healthcare, 2007

These are textbooks that related to this course throughout 6 weeks. If you have a chance to look at them, you will be able to find the content we have talked about. Skipping them will not interfere with your understanding on this course.