MSc Biotechnology and Enterprise

Year of entry: 2024

Course unit details:
Advanced Biotechnology I: expression systems for biopharmaceutical & industrial proteins

Course unit fact file
Unit code BIOL60771
Credit rating 15
Unit level FHEQ level 7 – master's degree or fourth year of an integrated master's degree
Teaching period(s) Semester 1
Available as a free choice unit? No

Overview

  • The importance and applications of biopharmaceutical and industrial proteins.
  • Bacterial expression systems.
  • Fungal expression systems.
  • Baculovirus-based expression in insect cells.
  • Animal expression systems.
  • Plant and algal expression systems.
  • Vectors for inducible and constitutive expression
  • Compartmentalisation of products in organelles
  • Post-translational processing including folding, secretion and covalent modifications
  • Regulatory issues and equivalence
  • Purification and good manufacturing practice
  • Confirmation of protein size and structure using physical methods
  • Case studies including important steps for commercialisation

Pre/co-requisites

A first degree in a biology-related discipline or other discipline combined with biology units

Aims

To provide an in-depth understanding of biological production systems for biopharmaceutical and industrial proteins

Learning outcomes

  • To understand the importance of biopharmaceutical and industrial proteins
  • To understand the different types of biological expression systems used to produce biopharmaceutical and industrial proteins
  • To critically evaluate and compare biological expression systems using, in part, case studies including important biopharmaceutical proteins and vaccine antigens
  • To understand the importance of regulatory aspects in recombinant protein production of commercial products
  • To be able to understand and analyse original results in the primary literature

Teaching and learning methods

The module requires knowledge and understanding of biological production systems and the analytical skills required to apply this to manufacture biopharmaceutical and industrial proteins. Attendance at the lectures, private study including critical analysis of the scientific literature to address the problem question in the field of biotechnology. Students will be introduced to the primary scientific literature and guided through the key steps required to understand and interpret the information

Employability skills

Analytical skills
Students will critically analyse and evaluate data in industry relevant research articles, patents and case studies to compare biological production systems.
Innovation/creativity
Students will design a production system to manufacture a pharmaceutical protein.
Problem solving
Students will be involved in an exercise where they play the role of a company director to address the problems associated with manufacturing a pharmaceutical protein.
Research
Students will conduct dry research to understand industry relevant biologics and expression systems.

Assessment methods

Method Weight
Written exam 100%

Feedback methods

Formative feedback will be provided on an outline written answer.

Recommended reading

Reading Lists specific to each lecture will be provided. Scientific articles can be accessed as electronic copies from the relevant publishers via the John Rylands library.

Background Reading

1) Primrose, S. B., Twyman, Richard M., Old, R. W.
Principles of gene manipulation.Edition 6th ed / Sandy Primrose, Richard Twyman, Bob Old.Publisher Oxford : Blackwell Science, 2001.

2) Lewin, Benjamin.Title Genes VI / Benjamin Lewin, Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1997

3) Production of Recombinant Proteins: Novel Microbial and Eukaryotic Expression Systems Gerd Gellissen (Editor) Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2005

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Lectures 20
Independent study hours
Independent study 130

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Anil Day Unit coordinator

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