Learning outcomes

After having completed the course the student should be able to:

• produce, isolate, identify and characterize biomolecules, with emphasis on proteins and nucleic acids
• plan and carry out biochemical engineering projects, incl. compilation and evaluation of obtained results
• critically evaluate experimental results, discuss strengths and weaknesses of different biochemical methods, suggest alternative methods
• analyse nucleic acid and protein sequences, their different structural levels, and use this information to predict the properties of these molecules
• describe how biomolecules can be used for different scientific purposes, eg development and production of drugs as well as medical, diagnostic and biotechnological products
• compare research/development and industrial processes and explain how upscaling can be achieved
• explain how GMP/GLP is applied in industrial production

Technical and industrial perspectives are taken into account in all objectives.

Content

Theory

• Strategies and methods for production, isolation and characterization of biomolecules (synthesis / biological production, chromatography, electrophoresis, spectroscopy, etc.)
• Peptide and nucleic acid synthesis
• Genetic engineering and directed evolution
• Preparation of recombinant and tailored proteins
• Immobilization of biomolecules on solid phases
• Current techniques for sequencing, structure determination and analysis of biomolecules, bioinformatics and structure-function relationships
• Qualitative and quantitative studies of molecular interactions, enzyme kinetics, membrane biokemistry, enzyme reactors
• Examples of biotechnological, medical and other scientific uses of proteins

Laboratory work

• Protein expression, purification and characterization as a cohesive project.
• Protein-ligand interaction
• Development and use of enzyme reactor

Instruction

Lectures, seminars, tutorials. group work and laboratory work and possibly study.

Assessment

Written examination (6 credits). Tutorials, laboratory work and other compulsory parts correspond to 4 credits. The final grade is given as a weighted average of the written examination and the other examined components.