Recombinant DNA technology has brought about a revolution in our understanding of molecular processes in living organisms. To date, there is no field in experimental biology that has remained untouched by the potential of isolating, analyzing and manipulating genes and organisms. Thus, gene technology provides essential tools in both fundamental and applied medical, industrial, agricultural, environmental and biological research.
In this course we will focus on four major topics, including (i) production of transgenic mammals, (ii) altering gene function using knockouts, RNAi and gene editing, (iii) transgenic mice as human model systems and (iv) production of transgenic crops. In addition to conventional lectures that will outline the major procedures, applications and some research papers, students will be challenged by virtual (computer based) experimental designs on the generation and characterization of transgenic animals and plants.
The practical course involves biomolecular techniques to illustrate two experiments.The first one will deal with the identification, characterization and complementation of mutations in organisms. Basic and more advanced gene technology will be applied such as genomic and plasmid DNA isolation, PCR, golden gate cloning, transformation, restriction/digestion and complementation analysis. The second experiment centers on the generation of site specific mutations and gene editing using CRISPR-Cas technology. These experiments will be supported in a virtual environment.
