Protein and Nucleic Acid Engineering

During the course, the students work on a current molecular biological and gene technological problem. The aim is to provide advanced knowledge and skills that enable the students to find solutions on their own, and put these solutions into practice. On completion of the course, the student should be able to: - analyse and describe the structure and classification of biological macromolecules (proteins and nucleic acids), and relate this information to their function, - describe factors significant for macromolecular folding and stability, - explain how biological macromolecules can be used for different industrial and academic purposes such as structure determination, organic synthesis and drug design, - describe and evaluate methods for the production, purification, and storage of biological macromolecules, - plan and perform mutagenesis experiments to engineer biological macromolecules, - test the function of purified biological macromolecules, - keep a complete and informative lab journal, with an understanding of the requirements for good laboratory practices (GLP), - design a research plan for a biotechnological invention.