Høst 2024

BIO-2009 Green Biotechnology and Bioenergy - 10 stp

The course is administrated by

Institutt for arktisk og marin biologi

Type of course

The course is primarily reserved for bachelor students enrolled in a biology or biotechnology study program. The course is a basic course and not recommended for advanced students which are or have been part of Plant Biotechnology programs in Erasmus partner universities.

It is a requirement that students have some prior knowledge of biology and ecology, chemistry and mathematics. (Participants must have taken introductory level university courses, and achieved pass grades, in these subjects).

Maximum number of participants: 16

Course contents

The course will give an introduction into techniques and applications of "green" biotechnology, i.e. biotechnology with photosynthetic organisms. The lectures will cover techniques for targeted alteration of the properties of plants and algae. Breeding, genome editing, and genetic modification and their advantages and disadvantages will be introduced. A focus will be on applications of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture, horticulture or aquaculture for the improved crops (for production of high value plant compounds such as nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals) and improved biomass for bioenergy generation purposes. The course will also cover the risk assessment of plant GMOs, safety measures when working with plant GMOs and current and future model plants. An introduction into in silico cloning by bioinformatics tools as important means to plan experimental strategies will be included in the course. These aspects will be deepened by reading and presenting original publications on selected themes. The practical part will cover plant transformation and grafting techniques, enzymatic approaches for biofuel production, plant tissue culture and plant regeneration.

Objective of the course

Knowledge:

can define what a "GMO" is
are familiar with genetic modification techniques in plants
are familiar with applications of plant GMOs
can explain plant regeneration and organogenesis
are familiar with the action of phytohormones on plant regeneration
can explain the history of biofuels

Skills:

are knowledgeable about the challenges within plant biotechnology and its rewards
can critically assess the pros and cons of plant Biotechnology
are familiar with techniques for transient plant cell transformation
can set up and maintain a sterile plant tissue culture
can set up an in silico cloning plan for a given gene and organism

General competence:

have an appreciation over the merits of green biotechnology
have practical expertise in sterile plant work and GMO generation
be comfortable with work-flows and safety measures in a molecular lab
know how to document lab activity in different ways
are comfortable with presenting a research topic in front of an audience
can critically assess other peoples’ work

Language of instruction

English

Teaching methods

20 hours of lectures, 8 hours of seminar (talks given by each individual student), 30 hours of wet-lab, 10 hours of computer lab and 4 hours of home exercises. Students will be required to use various documentation methods (lab journal, written lab report).

Appropriate local lab safety training will be given by course staff.