BMB537: Biotechnological Methods in Biomedicine (5 ECTS)

STADS: 01014101

Level
Bachelor course

Teaching period
The course is offered in the autumn semester.

Teacher responsible
Email: jgraversen@health.sdu.dk

Timetable
Show entire timetable
Show personal time table for this course.

Prerequisites:
This course can only be taken if it:

1. is a constituent part of your programme 
2. is a specified recommendation for elective ECTS in your programme
3. is part of a specified transitional arrangement ('overgangsordning') for a course you have not yet passed

Academic preconditions:
The course will take place in a close dialogue with the course FF503 running at the same time and will use the knowledge of molecular and cellular biology acquired in that course

Course introduction
The aim of the course is to enable the student to understand and relate to the application and use of modern biotechnology for the treatment of human diseases and to understand the role of the biomedical professional in these fields. Furthermore, the course should enable the student to relate the contents and goals of the more theoretical background courses taught during the first two years to a broader background and understand their field of application.

The course builds on knowledge from the course FF503 Chemistry, Biology and Molecular Biology and gives a basis for a deeper understanding and perspective of the subjects taught at BMB 531, 533 and 536. 

In relation to the competence profile of the degree it is the explicit focus of the course to:

Give the competence to:

• Professional participation in collaboration both within biomedicine but also cross-disciplinary based on group oriented projects. 

Give skills to:

• Combine basic scientific skills with more applied skills, having a focus on the human organism (immunology, physiology, and anatomy)
• Acquire new knowledge in an efficient and independent manner and consciously  apply that knowledge

Give knowledge and understanding of:

• theories and experimental methods in the central fields of molecular biology and biomedicine
• the mode of action of medicine on organ systems
• the scientific terminology used within the fields of molecular biology and biomedicine
• the role of biological databases in modern molecular biology and biomedicine

Expected learning outcome
The learning objectives of the course is that the student demonstrates the ability to:

• Understand the overall principles of development of new drugs up to approval for clinical use
• Obtain knowledge of the process of drug discovery 
• Understand how biological drugs are produced
• Understand the design and evaluation of a clinical trial
• Understand the molecular basis for selected diseases
• Understand the principles of identifying development strategies for drugs based on knowledge of diseases at the molecular level
• Understand the effect of selected drugson the organism

Subject overview
The following main topics are contained in the course:

• History of drug development
• Process and steps in drug discovery
• Drug interaction with targets or receptors
• Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics
• Toxicology tests of drugs
• Process and steps in drug developmentClinical trials: design and statistical evaluation
• Production of biological drugs
• Molecular basis for the understanding of diseases as prerequisite for drug development
• Information search
• Molecular basis for selected  diseases
• Antibodies as drugs

Literature

• Wiley Blackwell: Drugs; From Discovery to Approval, af Rick Ng, 3rd edition.
• kopier af uddrag fra bøger og tidsskrifter, disse udleveres under kurset.

Website
This course uses e-learn (blackboard).

Prerequisites for participating in the exam
None

Assessment and marking:

1. Written assignment in groups. Internal marking,  pass/fail. 2,5 ECTS (01014112).
2. Written exam, multiple choice, 2 hours. Internal marking, 7-mark scale. No exam aids allowed 2,5 ECTS (01014102).

Expected working hours
The teaching method is based on three phase model.
Intro phase: 24 hours
Skills training phase: 11 hours, hereof:
 - Tutorials: 11 hours

Educational activities Study phase: 85 hours
Educational form

• Reading of syllabus
• Preparation for tutorials (assignments)
• Writing assignment in groups
• Working with computer simulations, e-tests, etc.

The introduction phase consists of lectures, in which the students will get information on all aspects of drug discovery with an emphasis on topics with relevance for biomedicine. Furthermore, they will receive guidance on how to achieve competences and how to search the scientific literature. 

During the training phase which includes computer simulations and problem based learning, the students work with different assignments and thus achieve competences in the most important topics. In the study phase, students are expected to work independently with the textbook and examples and exercises herein. Students are expected to use part of the study phase to work on tasks of the training phase and do some repetition for the written exam

Language
This course is taught in Danish or English, depending on the lecturer.

Course enrollment
See deadline of enrolment.

Tuition fees for single courses
See fees for single courses.