C9 – Synthetic biology and biocatalysts
Key information
Next planned course: Feb 6-Feb 8 & Feb 27-Mar 1, 2023
Registration deadline: February 1 (if applying after Jan 10 please contact the course responsible directly in addition to filling out the form below)
Location: NTNU
Course responsible: Dr. Helga Ertesvåg
Grading: Group assignment (20%) and a semester exam (80%) (pass/fail)
Credits: 7.5 ECTS
NTNU course code: BT8120
Registration
Students should apply to BioCat using the registration form at the bottom of this page. In addition:
- NTNU students should apply through NTNU’s studweb
- External students apply as described at http://www.ntnu.edu/studies/researchcourses.
Content
The objective of the course is to provide an understanding of the physiology of the microbial cell and how it can be manipulated. In the first part, the focus will be on molecular biology and physiology, emphasizing topics that are important for synthetic biology. The second part focuses on the approaches and tools directly utilized in synthetic biology and are organized in the order of a typical workflow of a strain design project (Design, Build, Test, Learn).
Part 1: Basic prokaryote molecular biology and physiology
- Gene expression and regulation
- Growth and Bioenergetics
- Secondary metabolism
- Cell differentiation, communication, and interactions
- Coordination and regulation of microbial metabolism
- Genetic engineering and genome editing techniques including CRISPR
Part 2: Synthetic Biology
- Genetic circuits
- CADesign, automated construction and expression of synthetic pathways
- Computational Strain Design
- Omics technologies
– Genomics and transcriptomics
– Proteomics
– Metabolomics, fluxomics, lipid - Guest lecture
Exam and evaluation
The grade (pass/fail) is given based on a group assignment (20%) and a semester test (80%).
Practical info
This course will be taught over two weeks (Mon-Wed each week from kl 9.15 – kl 16.00) at NTNU Trondheim. The dates are January 30th – February 1st and February 27th – March 1st. The course material will consist of the equivalent of 300 pages of book chapters, papers and lecture notes. The course will be given in English.
Learning outcomes
The successful student will acquire fundamental knowledge of prokaryote molecular biology and physiology at an advanced level as well as knowledge about recent advances in prokaryote molecular biology. For the topics on genetic circuits and -omics technologies, the aim is to obtain an understanding of what these approaches may contribute to a project.
Recommended previous knowledge
Knowledge in biochemistry (advanced) (TBT4102 + TBT4107 or similar), microbiology (TBT4110 or similar) and molecular genetics (TBT4145/TBT4146 or similar).
