Biotechnology
CTY Course Syllabus
Introduction
Like all CTY science experiences, this inquiry-driven course is designed to develop your critical
thinking and analytical reasoning skills in the specific context of Biotechnology and its 21st
century applications. In order to maintain fidelity to CTY general objectives, we will explore a
plethora of technologies used in the fields of genetic engineering, forensics, agriculture,
bioremediation and medicine in order to give you a basic but fundamental experimental skill set
which can be applied in future secondary and post-secondary laboratory experiences or realworld scenarios. Furthermore, we will emphasize key practical skills in order to fully round your
summer research experience including exercising the appropriate: application of scientific
methodologies; selection of objective primary literature; presentation or interpretation of
quantitative and qualitative data sets; synthesis, presentation or communication of scientific
knowledge. Together, these objectives will provide you with new insights and skills on which to
base your future studies and scientific endeavors.
Essential Questions
As we learn about biotechnology, keep these questions in mind; maybe your thoughts will
change as you learn more about biotechnology:
1. What are the benefits of biotechnology for humans and the environment?
2. How are basic principles in molecular biology exploited to create powerful tools in
biotechnology?
3. What ethical issues arise from advances in biotechnology and how are they mitigated?
Expectations
Throughout this course, you are expected to demonstrate your understanding of biotechnology in
addition to maintaining general classroom decorum by:
• Actively engaging in classroom discussions, classroom activities, and laboratory
investigations;
• Interacting and independently meeting with your peers and collaborative learning groups
in a consistently professional and productive manner;
• Maintaining an organized notebook with clearly labeled sections (Syllabus, Lecture
Notes, Recitation Notes, Experiment Supplements, Worksheets and Assessments) and an
appropriately formatted science journal with clearly labeled primary data, discussion and
conclusion sections;
• Demonstrating mastery of biotechnology content by completing summative and
formative assessments including: collaborative activity worksheets, reading assignments,
and laboratory reports;
• Completing all assignments and course deliverables promptly;
• Refraining from using electronic devices unless instructed to do so (this includes
preventing your phone from ringing/buzzing during class or laboratories);
•
•
Respecting host institution facilities and equipment during all classroom and laboratory
sessions;
Communicating with your instructor or teaching assistant if any problems or obstacles
arise during any academic portion of your experience.
Academic Honesty
CTY takes academic honesty seriously! You need to make sure all of your work comes from
your thoughts and ideas; if not, you need to cite the work correctly to give credit to the author
who influenced your thoughts. This will be critical for the projects where you write a scientific
journal lab report and/or debate a topic in biotechnology.
Academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism, copying answers (knowingly or unknowingly)
from a colleague, changing answers on assessments, or other breaches of trust, will be addressed
immediately and without warning. You will be referred to the administrators on site
immediately.
Resources
The texts for this course are:
1. Skloot, Rebecca. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Waterville, Me.: Gale Cengage
Learning, 2011. ISBN-13: 978-1594134326
2. Thieman, William J., and Michael Angelo. Palladino. Introduction to Biotechnology. San
Francisco: Pearson/Benjamin Cummings, 2004. ISBN-13: 9780805348255
Your textbook is meant to be a reference for this course. The textbook is a good place to start if
you are learning about a new subject and you need some basic information. Most of our learning
will take place in the classroom, recitation and during lab exercises but you should also feel
comfortable consulting the textbook as a reliable reference that may help you expound upon
topics discussed during the course. You will also need to maintain an organized science
notebook and journal. There should be no doodles or class notes in your science journal!
Science Journal Format
Your science journal (composition notebook) should follow the format below:
1. Count out 5 pages (a page is a single side of paper; each piece of paper is two pages);
2. These first 5 pages are your Table of Contents. All experiment titles should be updated
in your table of contents;
3. At the top of the very first page, make three columns: date (small column); title (large
column); page # (small column);
4. For your first entry write: “7/15/13 – Experimental Design and Techniques – page 1”);
5. On page 6, number the page 1 in the upper right hand corner;
6. You need to number every page consecutively and include the page numbers in your
table of contents;
7. Each lab report (write up) should be dated & titled on each page. Additionally, it should
include the following headings: Background/Objective, Hypothesis, Materials,
Procedure, Data, Analysis and Discussion, Conclusions);
8. All entries in the lab journal should be conserved and errors, typos or modifications
should simply be crossed out with a single line-this preserves the authenticity and
actuality of your lab experience.
Tentative schedule
Day
Classroom
Laboratory
Text (chapter)
1
Cell Biology I
(eukaryotes)
Experimental design
The Biotechnology Century
2
Cell Biology II
(prokaryotes)
Culturing Microbes
Henrietta Lacks begins
3
Central Dogma
DNA Extraction
Intro to Genes/Genomes
4
Cell Cycle I (mitosis)
DNA Forensics
DNA Fingerprinting & Forensics
5
Cell Cycle II (meiosis)
Cancer Gene Detection
Recombinant DNA technology
6
Genetics I (inheritance)
Cholesterol Diagnostic
Medical Biotechnology
7
Genetics II (molecular)
GMO Detection
Agricultural Biotechnology
8
Genomes I (eukaryotes)
pGLO Transformation
History of Gene Manipulation
9
Genomes II (prokaryotes) Water Quality Test
Microbial Biotechnology
10
GMOs
Bioremediation
Bioremediation
11
From Genes to Protein
Single ELISA
Proteins and Products
12
DNA Technologies I
Blood Typing
Proteins and Products
13
DNA Technologies II
Western Blot analysis
Ethics and Biotechnology
14
Biotech & food
Transformations
Animal Biotechnology
15
Debates/Biotech Careers
Henrietta Lacks closure
Biotechnology Calendar (6 hrs lab/week)
Week 1
Day
Morning (3 hrs)
Afternoon (2 hrs)
-
(35 min) Introduction
-
(30 min) Immortal
Life of Henrietta
Lacks – Interview
with Author
-
(45 min) Should gene
patents be allowed?
(55 min): Cholesterol
Gene Detection Lab
(55 min): Gene
Detection practice
exercises
-
(55 min): Pedigree
and Punnett Square
Practice
-
(55 min): Gene
Detection Lab Report
Due, Discuss findings
-
(55 min): Identifying
GMO Crops Lab
-
(55 min):
COMPUTER LAB
-
(55 min): DNA
forensics skill check
-
(55 min):
COMPUTER LAB
-
(55 min): Modeling
Concepts (play-doh
constructs)
-
-
(55 min): pGLO
Transformation Lab I
-
(55 min): Discuss
Lecture Objective
Questions
(55 min): Henrietta
Lacks chapter
discussion
Sunday
Monday
-
Tuesday
-
-
Wednesday
(55 min): Course
Introductions:
Syllabus;
Performance Tasks;
Lab Safety; Course
Resources
-
(55 min): Preassessment
(55 min): Lecture:
Tour of Cells
(55 min): Lecture:
Molecular Basis of
Inheritance
(55 min): Biotech
Correlations:
Agricultural
Biotechnology
-
(55 min):
Explorations: The
FDA & screening
Agriculture
-
(55 min): Lecture:
Eukaryotic Genomes
-
(55 min): Biotech
Correlations:
Restriction enzymes
& Genetic
Engineering
-
Evening (2 hrs)
(55 min):
Explorations: Paper
& play- doh plasmids
(introduction)
Day
Morning (3 hrs)
Afternoon (2 hrs)
Evening (2 hrs)
Thursday
-
(55 min): Lecture:
Genetics of Viruses
and Bacteria
-
(55 min): Water
Quality Testing Lab I
-
-
-
(55 min): Biotech
Correlations: Quality
Assurance in Society
(55 min): QUIZ!!! &
peer grading
(35 min): Discuss
Lecture Objective
Questions
-
(55 min): “The
Biotech Revolution”
(July 4)
-
(55 min):
Explorations: Paper
& play- doh plasmids
(problem solving)
-
(20 min): Movie
Discussion
-
(55 min): Lecture:
GMOs I
(55 min): Biotech
Correlations:
Bioremediation (25
min): Lecture GMOs
II
Friday
-
-
-
(55 min): Water
Quality Testing Lab II
(55 min):
Bioremediation Lab I
(30 min): Course
Discussion: “Should
GMOs be regulated?”
Resource Links:
1. Rebecca Skloot Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP4q461AKNk
2. TEDTALK: http://www.ted.com/talks/james_watson_on_how_he_discovered_dna.html
Week 2
Day
Morning (3 hrs)
Afternoon (2 hrs)
Sunday
Monday
-
-
Tuesday
Wednesday
(55 min): Lecture:
Chromosomal Basis
of Inheritance
(55 min):
Explorations:
Interpreting Pedigrees
-
(55 min): Clinical
Correlations:
Medical
Biotechnology
-
(55 min): Lecture:
Molecular Basis of
Inheritance
-
(55 min): Biotech
Correlations:
Agricultural
Biotechnology
-
(55 min):
Explorations: The
FDA & screening
Agriculture
-
(55 min): Lecture:
Eukaryotic Genomes
(55 min): Biotech
Correlations:
Restriction enzymes
& Genetic
Engineering
-
-
(55 min):
Explorations: Paper
& play- doh plasmids
(introduction)
-
(55 min): Cholesterol
Gene Detection Lab
-
(55 min): Gene
Detection practice
exercises
-
Evening (2 hrs)
-
(35 min): Henrietta
Lacks chapter
discussion
-
(35 min): Discuss
Lecture Objective
Questions
-
(45 min): Peer Review
Lab report Draft
-
(55 min): Pedigree
and Punnett Square
Practice
(55 min): Gene
Detection Lab Report
Due, discuss findings
-
(55 min): Identifying
GMO Crops Lab
(55 min): DNA
forensics skill check
-
-
(55 min): Modeling
Concepts (play-doh
constructs)
-
(55 min): Discuss
Lecture Objective
Questions
-
(55 min): pGLO
Transformation Lab I
-
(55 min): Henrietta
Lacks chapter
discussion
-
-
(55 min):
COMPUTER LAB
(55 min):
COMPUTER LAB
Day
Morning (3 hrs)
Afternoon (2 hrs)
Evening (2 hrs)
Thursday
-
(55 min): Lecture:
Genetics of Viruses
and Bacteria
-
(55 min): Water
Quality Testing Lab I
-
-
-
(55 min): Biotech
Correlations: Quality
Assurance in Society
(55 min): QUIZ!!! &
peer grading
(35 min): Discuss
Lecture Objective
Questions
-
(55 min): “The
Biotech Revolution”
(July 4)
-
(55 min):
Explorations: Paper
& play- doh plasmids
(problem solving)
-
(20 min): Movie
Discussion
-
(55 min): Lecture:
GMOs I
(55 min): Biotech
Correlations:
Bioremediation
Friday
-
-
-
(55 min): Water
Quality Testing Lab II
(55 min):
Bioremediation Lab I
(25 min): Lecture:
GMOs II
(30 min): Course
Discussion: “Should
GMOs be regulated?”
Resource Links:
1. The Biotech Revolution: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bukTqyWgaM8
Week 3
Day
Morning (3 hrs)
Afternoon (2 hrs)
Sunday
Monday
-
-
Tuesday
Wednesday
(55 min): Lecture:
From Genes to
Proteins
(55 min): Online
Tutorial:
“Repressible vs.
Inducible genes”
-
-
(55 min): Gene
Product Screening
Lab (ELISA)
(55 min): Lab Retrials
Evening (2 hrs)
-
(35 min): Overview of
Ligation & Gene
Expression
-
(35 min): Henrietta
Lacks chapter
discussion
-
(40 min): Peer Review
Lab report Draft
-
(55 min):
COMPUTER LAB
-
(55 min): Gene
Product detection lab
report due; discuss
findings.
-
(55 min): Biotech
Correlations:
Detecting Gene
Products
-
(55 min): Lecture:
DNA Technology I
-
(55 min): Blood
Typing Lab
-
(55 min):
COMPUTER LAB
-
(55 min): Biotech
Correlations: Blood
Typing and Western
Blots
-
(55 min): Western
Blot Analysis I
-
(55 min): CTY
Presents drafts Due &
Peer/Instructor
Review
-
(55 min): Biotech
Correlations: History
of PCR analysis
-
(55 min): Lecture:
DNA Technology II
-
(55 min):
Bioremediation Lab II
-
(55 min): Course
Content Review
-
(55 min): Clinical
Correlations:
Medical Gene
Therapy case study at
UPenn-Hopkins
-
(55 min): Western
Blot Analysis II
-
(55 min): Henrietta
Lacks chapter
discussion
-
(55 min): Debates:
“When is Gene
Therapy appropriate?”
Day
Morning (3 hrs)
Afternoon (2 hrs)
Evening (2 hrs)
Thursday
-
-
(55 min):
Transformation II
-
-
(55 min): CTY
Presents Recitation
(55 min): Final Lab
reports due; discuss
findings
-
(55 min):
COMPUTER LAB
-
Friday
(55 min): Postassessment
(55 min): Lecture:
Biotech
Frontiers/Careers in
Biotechnology
-
(55 min): Discussion:
Q & A about Biotech
Seminar Series
-
(25 min): CTY
Presents: Biotech
Seminar Series (BSS)
Group I
-
(25 min): CTY
Presents: BSS Group
II
-
(25 min): CTY
Presents: BSS Group
III
-
(25 min): CTY
Presents: BSS Group
IV
(30 min): Pathway to
Biotech
-
(30 min): Summary of
Learning