Module overview
This course is designed to illustrate the ways in which the theoretical principles of biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology presented in previous courses can be applied to yield important commercial or therapeutic products or processes.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcomes
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- To justify the necessity for having suitable preclinical models in order to accurately assess drug efficacy and toxicity, with an emphasis on advanced mouse models.
- Critically appraise current methodology in Biotechnology
- Describe how antibody engineering can be used to treat human disease.
- Evaluate the use of ScFvs and display technologies in the design of therapeutic protein scaffolds.
- Demonstrate how different key roles of glycans in biology can inspire biopharmaceutical intervention.
- Explain the use of gene therapy in treating human diseases, including the roles of liposomes and viruses as delivery methods for the gene of interest.
- Describe how precision medicine is used in a cancer setting and explain how we can predict and promote anti-tumour T cell responses at a personalised level.
Syllabus
This course is designed to illustrate the ways in which the theoretical principles of biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology presented in previous courses can be applied to yield important commercial or therapeutic products or processes. It concentrates on biotechnology that involves prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. It introduces students to the technologies of the “post genomic” era. It also presents examples of protein engineering, the manipulation of the characteristics of protein molecules such as antibodies and antibody-binding proteins. The course includes material on the production of therapeutic proteins, the role of glycosylation and the use of glycomimetics, how gene therapy can be used to treat human disease, the pre-clinical models required to test them, and the precision technologies used to personalise medical care.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
This course comprises:
i)20 lectures with 2 feedback/revision seminars. (For each section of the course the student is given a comprehensive reading list of recent research and review papers).
ii)A conference abstract (350 words) and poster documenting a case study of the methodology used to produce a therapeutic agent.
iii)A written examination.
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 24 |
| Independent Study | 126 |
| Total study time | 150 |
Assessment
Assessment strategy
Written Examination comprising a written paper requiring two questions to be answered from a choice of four where one is an either/ or (75% of total mark) AND Case study; abstract (350 words) and poster presentation (10% and 15% respectively).
Re-assessment Method: Written Examination comprising a written paper requiring two questions to be answered from a choice of four where one is an either/ or (75% of total mark) AND Coursework: marks carried forward.
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Written assessment | 75% |
| Case study | 25% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Case study | 25% |
| Written assessment | 75% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External