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Horizontal Gene Transfer
Study Course Description
Course Description Statuss:Approved
Course Description Version:12.00
Study Course Accepted:15.08.2023 15:02:03
| Study Course Information | |||||||||
| Course Code: | BUMK_005 | LQF level: | Level 7 | ||||||
| Credit Points: | 2.00 | ECTS: | 3.00 | ||||||
| Branch of Science: | Biology; Molecular Biology | Target Audience: | Nursing Science; Pharmacy; Medicine; Clinical Pharmacy; Dentistry; Life Science; Medical Technologies; Biology | ||||||
| Study Course Supervisor | |||||||||
| Course Supervisor: | Inese Čakstiņa-Dzērve | ||||||||
| Study Course Implementer | |||||||||
| Structural Unit: | Department of Biology and Microbiology | ||||||||
| The Head of Structural Unit: | |||||||||
| Contacts: | Riga, 16 Dzirciema Street, bmk rsu[pnkts]lv, +371 67061584 | ||||||||
| Study Course Planning | |||||||||
| Full-Time - Semester No.1 | |||||||||
| Lectures (count) | 4 | Lecture Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Lectures | 8 | ||||
| Classes (count) | 4 | Class Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Classes | 8 | ||||
| Total Contact Hours | 16 | ||||||||
| Full-Time - Semester No.2 | |||||||||
| Lectures (count) | 4 | Lecture Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Lectures | 8 | ||||
| Classes (count) | 4 | Class Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Classes | 8 | ||||
| Total Contact Hours | 16 | ||||||||
| Study course description | |||||||||
| Preliminary Knowledge: | Molecular biology and genetics, microbiology, human anatomy and physiology. | ||||||||
| Objective: | To introduce students with horizontal gene transfer, both in nature and in the laboratory (gene engineering), in modern medicine (gene therapy among other topics), as well as to help them acquire the skills of scientific literature analysis. | ||||||||
| Topic Layout (Full-Time) | |||||||||
| No. | Topic | Type of Implementation | Number | Venue | |||||
| 1 | Introductory lecture: types of gene transfer, horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, mobile genetic elements, HGT and evolution, introduction in gene engineering. | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 2 | Recombinant DNA technologies and their use in biomedicine (principles of construct design). Manipulation of nucleic acids, cloning genes for synthetic biology (vectors, expression systems). | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 3 | Overview of Gene Therapy. | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 4 | Overview of immunotherapy (CAR-T cells). | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 5 | Cell therapy and tissue engineering. | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 6 | Bioethical aspects of genetic manipulations of human genetic material (guest lecture). | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 7 | Biological aspects of genetic manipulations with human material. | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 8 | Gene engineering: transgenic animals and plants | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 9 | Designing the gene constructs (laptops are needed). How to prepare for 10-min talk (practical tips for presentations)? | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 10 | Seminar "Meet the author", scientific paper analysis, online seminar with author (in English). | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 11 | DNA isolation and discussion of other analytical methods. | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 12 | Artificial Intelligence tools for research. | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 13 | Practical work – bacterial transformation with plasmid DNA (in DNA class) or seminar "Meet the embryologist" online. | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 14 | Students' presentation, Q and A, discussion. | Classes | 3.00 | auditorium | |||||
| Assessment | |||||||||
| Unaided Work: | Each student prepares and presents one 10-minute presentation about topic of their choice (topic must be related to the at least one of the themes learned in this course). Presentations are presented at the last classes of this course. In order to evaluate the quality of the study course as a whole, the student must fill out the study course evaluation questionnaire on the Student Portal. | ||||||||
| Assessment Criteria: | Practical work (presentation) assessment criteria: visual material in presentation, speech and flow of story of presenter, answers to the questions and discussion about the topic of presentation. In addition, the assessment is performed by other students. Only teacher's assessment is taken into account for cumulative grade of the course. E-tests and exam is graded based on point system uploaded in e-studies. | ||||||||
| Final Examination (Full-Time): | Exam (Written) | ||||||||
| Final Examination (Part-Time): | |||||||||
| Learning Outcomes | |||||||||
| Knowledge: | Upon successful completion of the course the students will be able to: • explain gene transfer processes in nature; • speak on diverse methods and opportunities in medical biotechnology and in creation of transgenic plants and animals; • characterize methods of gene therapy, its present achievements and application limitations. | ||||||||
| Skills: | Upon successful completion of the course the students will be able to explain the benefits provided by biotechnology and gene therapy and the related risks. | ||||||||
| Competencies: | The students analyse situations, argue logically and justify their point of view on the horizontal gene transfer and on gene therapy options accordingly to the aim. The students also predict the possible side effects. | ||||||||
| Bibliography | |||||||||
| No. | Reference | ||||||||
| Required Reading | |||||||||
| 1 | Alberts, et al. 2015. Molecular Biology of the Cell. 6th edition | ||||||||
| 2 | Journal of Gene Medicine. | ||||||||
| 3 | Gene therapy (Nature) | ||||||||
| 4 | Strachan & Read. Human Molecular Genetics. 4th edition. Bios Scientific Publishers, NY, 2011. (akceptējams izdevums) | ||||||||
| Additional Reading | |||||||||
| 1 | Starptautisks zinātnisks žurnāls par augu šūnu bioloģiju /International Scientific Journal of Plant Cell Biology | ||||||||
| 2 | Innovative Medicine: Basic Research and Development. Nakao K., Minato N., Uemoto S. (editors.) Tokyo: Springer; 2015. | ||||||||
| 3 | GeneReviews [Internet]. Adam M.P., Ardinger H.H., Pagon R.A., et al. (editors.) Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993-2022. | ||||||||
