Learning objectives
<br />The objective of the course is to bring the student into a deeper knowledge of:<br />- buffer systems with a special care for the ones in the blood;<br />- relevance and applications of the osmotic pressure;- use of the modern molecular biology techniques, emphasizing heterologous expression and protein engineering.
Prerequisites
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Course unit content
<br />Relevance of pH and osmotic pressure in the homeostasis process.<br />Ionic equilibria of poliyprotic acids and their salts in aqueous solution. Acid-base behaviour of amino acids in aqueous solution. Titration of amino acids. pH-buffer systems in the blood. Preparation of buffer solutions.<br />Origin and significance of the osmotic pressure. The van¿t Hoff coefficient. Calculating osmolarity. Preparation of isotonic solutions.<br />Reactions and characterization of carbohydrates.<br /> <br />DNA manipulation techniques<br />In vitro mutagenesis: random and site-specific mutagenesis, and PCR-mediated mutagenesis reaction.<br />Production of recombinant proteins<br />Heterologous expressions in yeast cells. Fusion proteins; the pMAL system in Escherichia coli.<br />Applications of genetic engineering techniques<br />Analysis of DNA polymorphisms. Diagnosis of genetic diseases.<br />Bioinformatics<br />Searching the nucleotide database, query by DNA sequence.<br />
Full programme
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Bibliography
<br />All the study materials and supporting web sites are provided by the teachers.<br />
Teaching methods
<br />Frontal lectures (aided by presentations and animations files) and practicals.<br />Oral exam.<br />
Assessment methods and criteria
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Other information
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