CURRICULUM PROPOSAL FORM #3
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-WHITEWATER

NEW COURSE



Effective: Spring, 2001

Course Number: * 630-254

Course Title: Biotechnology Laboratory Methods

    15 Character Abbreviation: Biotechnology
    25 Character Abbreviation: Biotechnology Laboratory

Sponsor:            Lance Urven
E-mail Address: UrvenL@mail.uww.edu
Department:      Biological Sciences
College:            Letters and Sciences

Co-sponsor:       Waechter-Brulla, Woller, Mesner
E-mail Address: Waechted, WollerM, MesnerP, Clokey ClokeyG
Department:      Biological Sciences
College:            Letters and Sciences

* You MUST verify course numbers with Registrar's Office prior to submitting (x1211)

Other Programs Affected: Chemistry

Check if course is to meet any of the following requirements:

   x   None      Writing        Computer       Diversity       General Ed and Area

Credit/Contact Hours: (per semester)
Total lab hours:      48         Total lecture hours:   0
Number of credits 1            Total contact hours:  48

Check if course is repeatable: X   No    Yes (if yes, answer the following questions)

Enter the appropriate titles if the course is required in any of the following:

        Major Title(s)
        Minor Title(s)
        Emphasis Title(s) Cell Biology/Physiology

Course justification: The addition of 630-254, Biotechnology Laboratory Methods will assure that a uniform and regularly updated collection of laboratory techniques used in Genetics, Cell Biology, and Physiology research are taught to students in the Cell Biology and Physiology Emphasis in the Biology major, and offered as an elective to students in other Biology Emphases.

Introduction to Cell Biology currently has 2 lectures/2 hours lab per week for three credit hours. It will cede its laboratory component to this new course, Biotechnology Laboratory Methods, and become three lectures/ week, identical to the format of Introduction to Ecology, the other sophomore-level course gateway course for the Biology emphases. The change in format will provide time in the Introduction to Cell Biology syllabus to cover a number of topics central to modern cell biology that have had to be omitted in the past, including control of cell division, cellular "skeleton" structure, cell locomotion, and intercellular communication.

The new lab course, 630-254, will carry one credit and meet three contact hours per week, one more than the former Introduction to Cell Biology lab. The three:one contact:credit hour ratio is in keeping with the departmental trend for labs in majors’ courses, and in keeping with standard practice in the Chemistry and Physics Departments at UWW and biology departments at most universities. It will incorporate biotechnology lab techniques previously taught in Introduction to Cell Biology, as well as other techniques previously taught to only a few students in the upper division biology elective, Molecular Biology. Biotechnology Laboratory Methods (630-254) will be required for students in the Cell Biology and Physiology emphasis, and be offered as a biology elective for students in the Ecology /Field Biology and the General Biology emphases.

In summary, introduction of this course with associated changes in emphasis requirements and in Introduction to Cell Biology will...

        (1) increase breadth of coverage in lectures in the Introduction to Cell Biology course,

        (2) retain and expand Introduction to Cell Biology lab exercises by moving them into the new
             independent Biotechnology Laboratory Methods course required in the Cell Biology/
            Physiology emphasis, and

        (3) provide a one-credit course, Biotechnology Laboratory Methods, as an elective for
            Ecology /Field Biology and the General Biology emphases.

Relationship to program assessment objectives: This course will improve the Biological Sciences performance in meeting goal 1.1 of its newly adopted mission: "Offer up-to-date courses relevant to the needs of modern Biology that demand high standards of academic performance; preparing biology students for success in post-baccalaureate programs and in a global job marker". This course proposal is part of our initiatives to meet Goal 2 established in the Department of Biological Sciences Annual Report, "Continue to review departmental course offerings and our emphases in order to strengthen our program". It specifically addresses Goal 7, "Provide hands-on experiences in teaching laboratories that expose students to modern techniques used in research laboratories".

Budgetary impact: Laboratory exercises are relatively expensive compared to other forms of instruction, due to the cost of capital equipment and supplies, as well as the 2:1 or 3:1 contact hours: credit hour for laboratories. We anticipate a student demand for two sections of the new course, 630-254, per semester. Currently, we are teaching two hours of lab in each of two sections of Introduction to Cell Biology. In the accompanying proposals, we suggest reducing student contact hours in the two sections of Introduction to Cell Biology by converting one lab credit to a lecture credit. This will net enough faculty contact hours to accommodate one section of the new course per semester. We also recommend a reduction of one contact hour per week in the six sections of General Zoology and General Botany (three lectures, four hours lab/week to three lectures, three hours lab/week). This will provide just enough faculty contact hours to cover both the increase in Introduction to Genetics (two hour lab --> three hour lab, and an additional lecture period), and to cover the second section of Biotechnology Laboratory Methods. If all the proposed changes are implemented for General Botany, General Zoology, Introduction to Genetics, Introduction to Cell Biology, and Biotechnology Laboratory Methods, there will be no net change in faculty contact hours, as summarized on the next page.
 
Course
Current faculty Contacts
Projected Faculty Contacts
General Botany
18
15
General Zoology
18
15
Intro to Genetics
6
9
Intro to Cell Biol
6
3
Biotech Lab
0
6
Total
48
48

Capital equipment is already in place to support these courses from Laboratory Modernization and National Science Foundation Grants of recent years. Supply costs should be roughly equal to that used in the laboratories 630-254 will replace. These curricular and scheduling adjustments should allow this program to be taught at little or no more expense than the current system, with considerably better learning gains in cognitive and skill areas for students.

Course description: Introduction to theory and practice in modern biology labs, including principles of microscopy, photometry, chromatography, centrifugation, electrophoresis, and assay methods. Exercises include basic lab methods and techniques, microscopy, eukaryotic cell culture, and protein analysis. Three hours lab/week. Pre-Req: 630-251 and 640-104 or equivalents.

Course requisites: Pre-Requisite Biology 630-251, Introduction to Genetics; and Chemistry 640-104 Introductory Chemistry.

If dual listed, list graduate level requirements:

Course Objectives:

1. Students will describe and relate the physical and chemical principles applied in modern biotechnology assays, including, but not limited to...
                a. microscopy
                b. photometry
                c. chromatography
                d. centrifugation
                e. electrophoresis
                f. Western blots
                g. antibody-based detection systems

2. Students will correctly use observational, manipulative and measuring devices found in biotechnology labs including, but not limited to...

  a. bright field microscopes
  b. phase contrast microscopes
  c. fluorescence microscopes
  d. spectrophotometers
  e. centrifuges
  f. electrophoresis rigs
  g. laminar flow hoods
  h. incubators
  i. micropipettes
 
3. Students can describe safety measures required in biotechnology laboratories, and will always follow all safety precautions in laboratory.

4. Students will work productively in an team-oriented environment, demonstrating exemplary standards of professional ethics.

5. Students will plan and perform original investigations following practices and principles consistent with scientific research.

6. Students will use library and computer resources to interpret experiments correctly.

7. Students will effectively communicate their research in a variety of forums, according to practices standard to the scientific community.
 

Syllabus: 1) Basic Lab Techniques: keeping lab notes/notebook
use of pipets & micropipetters
metric measures & dilutions
preparation of solutions & biological buffers
use/care of pH meter, digital balance
optimal adjustment/use/care of compound light microscope
 
2) Microscopy image formation theory
optimal microscope adjustment
basic specimen preparation & staining
survey different types of microscopes
TEM demonstration
image analysis
 
3) Enzymology prep./handling of tissue or cell extracts
colorimetry
kinetic analysis, activity determination
analysis of marker enzyme distribution (part of 4, below)
 
4) Centrifugation techniques centrifugation theory
use/care of preparative & ultracentrifuges
subcellular fractionation methods
differential centrifugation
density gradient separations
 
5) Protein Methods sample prep. and handling
protein assays (colorimetry)
gel filtration chromatography
SDS PAGE
Western Blotting
 
6) Chromatography chromatographic theory
matrix selection
column preparation
size exclusion, ion exchange, or affinity chromatography
fraction collection and analysis.
 
7) Eukaryotic cell culture methods prep./sterilization of media
primary culture
freezing/thawing of cell lines
propagation/enumeration/passageing of cell lines
transfection with expression construct
fluorescence microscopy
 
8) Radioisotope methods basic radionuclide theory
properties of common isotopes and their uses
safety/handling/disposal
detection/counting
Bibliography: *Acquaah, George. Practical protein electrophoresis for genetic research. Portland, Or. : Dioscorides Press, c1992.

*Ausubel, Frederick M.(ed.) Short protocols in molecular biology : a compendium of methods from Current protocols in molecular biology 2nd ed. <Brooklyn, NY> : Greene Pub. Associates ; New York, NY Wiley, c1992.

*Bains, William, Biotechnology from A to Z. New York : Oxford University Press, 1993

*Hames, B.D. and D. Rickwood. (eds.) Gel electrophoresis of proteins : a practical approach. 2nd ed. Oxford ; New York : IRL Press at Oxford University Press, c1990.

*Jennie P. Mather and David Barnes (eds.) Animal cell culture methods. Published: San Diego: Academic Press, 1998.

*Lewin, Benjamin. Genes V / Benjamin Lewin. Published: Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1994.

*Martin, Bernice M. Tissue culture techniques : an introduction / :Boston: Birkhauser, c1994.

*Morgan, Sara J. Animal cell culture / Sara J. Morgan, David C. Darling. Oxford <England> : BIOS Scientific in association with the Biochemical Society, 1993.

*Pollard, Jeffrey W. and John M. Walker. Basic cell culture protocols. 2nd ed. .Totowa, N.J. : Humana Press, c1997.

*Rickwood, D. (ed.) Centrifugation : a practical approach 2nd ed., Oxford ; Washington, D.C. : IRL Press, <1989>, c1984.

*Sambrook, J., E.F. Fritsch, T. Maniatis. Molecular cloning : a laboratory manual 2nd ed. Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1989.

*Spector, David L, Robert D. Goldman, Leslie A. Leinwand. Cells : a laboratory manual. Cold Spring Harbor, NY : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1998.