RAJIV GANDHI CENTRE FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY,

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM 695014, KERALA STATE, INDIA

An Autonomous National Institute for Discovery, Innovation & Translation

In Biotechnology and Disease Biology,
Government of India,
Ministry of Science & Technology, Department of Biotechnology.

MSc BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRAM

AFFILIATED TO REGIONAL CENTRE FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY

MSc IN BIOTECHNOLOGY

Stream 1: Disease Biology

Stream 2: Genetic Engineering
Stream 3: Molecular Diagnostics & DNA Profiling
 2

MSc BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRAM WITH

THREE STREAMS AFFILIATED TO UNESCO-RCB

Stream 1: Disease Biology

Stream 2: Genetic engineering
Stream 3: Molecular Diagnostics and DNA Profiling

CONTENTS

Item Page Number

Duration of the Course 3

Objectives of the program 3

Number of seats per year 3

Eligibility Criteria 3

Reservation 3
 3

Duration of the Course: Two years (four semesters)

Objectives of the program

Biotechnology is a much wanted field of study that evolved from many revolutions in
biology, chemistry, computational sciences and engineering, which allows students to
keep up with the pace of new discoveries and remain competitive in the realm of applied
sciences. Biotechnology makes use of biological systems, living organisms and its
components to create products and other technological systems and may come in the
form of increased food production, medical breakthroughs or health improvement as
result of new knowledge and products. Biotechnology is a big concept and encompasses
many industries, but with a common emphasis on the use of living organisms to reach
whatever goal its branch may have. It aims to develop technologies and procedures to
modify living organisms to improve human living.

The MSc program at RGCB will be unique, as it will cover the fundamental fields of
theories in Biotechnology, while focusing on laboratory exercises and industrial as well as
research applications. The students will be introduced to the concepts of “Enterprise and
Entrepreneurship”. This allows students who wish for a career beyond the laboratory in
an existing biotechnology industry or for those who dream of starting a new biotechnology
enterprise. Students get trained in a real business & technology development bio-
incubator where startup companies function. Every student will have a personal tutor who
will constantly provide mentorship for course work as well as pastoral advice on living
through the entire course.

We aim at developing and retaining a sustainable pipeline of biotechnology professionals

across a range of related disciplines including fundamental science, technology
development, translation, policy and outreach through efforts in education, training, and
career development.

Number of seats per year: 15 per stream; Total 45 students.

Eligibility criteria

Students with 60% aggregate marks (or an equivalent grade point average) in Bachelor's
degree in any branch of Science, Engineering, or Medicine are eligible to be apply for
admission. Students from the SC, ST, OBC (non-creamy layer), and PWD categories shall
be given a relaxation of 5% aggregate marks. Students in the final year of their qualifying
degree program are also eligible to apply provided that they produce a proof of having
secured the required marks in their undergraduate degree program at the time of
admission.

Reservation

There shall be reservation of seats for students from the SC, ST, OBC, PWD and
Economically backward categories as per the rules and regulations of the Government of
India.
 4

COURSE DETAILS AND SYLLABUS FOR THREE MSc

BIOTECHNOLOGY COURSES AT RGCB

Stream 1: Disease Biology

Stream 2: Genetic Engineering
Stream 3: Molecular Diagnostics & DNA Profiling
 5

CORE COURSES (for all three streams)

ONE CREDIT = 12 TEACHING HOURS

SEMESTER I
CODE COURSE CREDIT (S)
RGC 301 Biochemistry and Biophysics 3
This course is designed to provide students a broad understanding of basic
macromolecules of life. This course will also cover a wide range of topics applying
physical principles and techniques to different problems in biology.

Unit I: Basic principles and role of water

Basic chemistry, Elements, Functional groups, pH, Mole concept, Bonding and chirality,
Non-covalent interactions, Water, interactions in aqueous systems, Ionization state of
biomolecules, Water as reactant, Laws of thermodynamics, Gibbs free energy,
Statistical thermodynamics, and maintenance of equilibrium.

Unit II: Proteins

Amino acids – structure and functional group properties; pH and properties of amino
acids, Peptides and covalent structure of proteins; peptide bond, polypeptide, protein
structure- secondary, tertiary and quaternary, protein structure & function, protein
folding and chaperones, Protein-Ligand interactions and function, Post-translational
modification of proteins.

Unit III: Enzymes

General principles of enzyme catalysis, Activation energy and stereospecificity,
Quantitation of enzyme activity and efficiency, Enzyme characterization and Michaelis-
Menten kinetics, Regulation and Inhibition of enzymes, Enzymes and Metabolic
pathways, Study of model enzymes such as proteases, carbonic anhydrases, restriction
enzymes and nucleoside monophosphate kinase. Production of industrial enzymes,
enzyme immobilization

Unit IV: Carbohydrates, Lipids and Nucleic Acids

Carbohydrates: Monosaccharides and Disaccharides, Polysaccharides, Nucleic Acids:
Nucleotides, Nucleic Acid composition,a historical perspective leading up to the
proposition of DNA double helical structure; difference in RNA and DNA structure and
their importance in evolution of DNA as the genetic material. Lipids: Storage lipids,
Structural lipids in membranes, Lipoproteins. Lipids as signals, cofactors and pigments

Unit V: Biological Membranes

Composition and architecture, Membrane dynamics, Anchoring of proteins in
membranes, Organization of proteins on membranes, Solute Transport across
membranes, Membrane vesicles.

Unit VI: Bioenergetics & Metabolism

Principles of bioenergetics, Glycolysis, Citric acid cycle, Oxidative phosphorylation,
Photosynthesis, Biosynthesis of amino acids, lipids, nucleotides.
RGC 302 Microbiology 3
This course is designed to cover fundamental aspects of the microbial world (pathogenic
and non- pathogenic) with special emphasis on how microbes live, divide and cause
diseases, understanding the contribution of their genomes.
 6

Unit I: Microbial characteristics and diversity

Introduction to microbiology and microbes. General organization of a microbial cell
morphology, structure, growth and nutrition of bacteria, bacterial growth curve, bacterial
culture methods; Gram staining and microbial typing, Cell wall and cell organelle
structure and organization of various microbes. Microbial taxonomy: classification of
microorganisms, criteria for classification. Prokaryotes, Eukaryotes and Archaea.
Microbial evolution of diversity.

Unit II: Microbial Metabolism and genetics

Metabolic pathways of microbes, Photophosphorylation; nitrogen metabolism, symbiotic
microbes, nitrogen fixation and its regulation; sulphate-metabolism; putrefaction,
methane oxidizing and methanogenic bacteria. Bacterial genetics: mutation and
recombination in bacteria, plasmids, transformation, transduction and conjugation;
antimicrobial resistance. Pasteur experiment and Griffith’s experiment, Modes of genetic
exchange in microbes.

Unit III: Microbes and Health

Pathogenic bacteria and viruses, Human microbiota and their role in human health,
Drug-resistant bacteria, biofilms, antibiotics and antimicrobial agents, Protozoan
parasites and human diseases. Antibiotics, antiviral and antifungal drugs, biological
control of microorganisms. Virus and bacteriophages

Unit IV: Host-Microbe interaction

Host-pathogen interaction, ecological impact of microbes; microbial communication
system; bacterial quorum sensing; microbial fuel cells; prebiotics and probiotics.

Unit V: Tools and techniques in Microbiology

High-throughput screening assays, drug screening, molecular barcoding methods, PCR
and next-generation sequencing based techniques in microbiology, Microbes in
biotechnology, microbes in brewery and biotechnological applications including
recombinant DNA methodologies

Unit VI: Virology

Viruses and bacteriophages, general properties of viruses, viral structure, taxonomy of
virus, viral replication, cultivation and identification of viruses; sub-viral particles –viroids
and prions. Viruses, bacteriophages and their applications.

Unit VII: Fermentation technology

Bioreactors, biochemistry of fermentation, Downstream processing for product recovery,
Production of different Bio-products involving microbes.
RGC 303 Immunology 2
This course will provide information regarding the immune system involving different
molecules, cells and processes.

Unit I: Introduction to Immunology and innate immunity

Fundamental concepts and overview of the immune system Components of innate and
acquired immunity; Innate immune cells and functions; phagocytosis; complementand
inflammatory responses; pathogen recognition receptors (PRR) and pathogen
associated molecular pattern (PAMP); Major Histocompatibility Complex Organs of
immune system, primary and secondary lymphoid organs.

Unit II: Adaptive immune system

Immunoglobulins, B-cell receptor, B cell and T cell maturation, activation and
differentiation; cell-mediated immune responses, antigen processing and presentation,
 7

Adaptive immune system and response, antigen-antibody interactions, immunological

techniques

Unit III:Immunotechnology
Principles of immunization, Vaccine development, Immunotherapy, Development of
monoclonal antibodies, Gene editing technology in designing antibody, Designing
antibody library for immunotherapy.

Unit IV: Immunogenetics

Major histocompatibility complex genes, HLA typing, Complement genes, implication
for linkage disequilibrium and disease associations, genetic studies of rheumatoid
arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and multiple sclerosis, genetics of human
immunoglobulin, immunogenetics of spontaneous control of HIV complex.
RGC 304 Cell and Molecular Biology 3
The objectives of this course are to introduce students to fundamental concepts of cell
biology. The course will also cover various biological and molecular processes
associated with DNA, RNA and proteins.

Unit I: Introduction to Cell Biology

Fundamental aspects of cell biology, Understanding the basic cell, visualizing cells,
Evolution of the cell, Internal organization of the cell membrane structure, Intracellular
traffic, Proteins sorting, Compartmental diversity, Endocytosis, Exocytosis, Secretory
pathway, Mechanisms that maintain compartmental identity and crosstalk.

Unit II: Cytoskeleton, molecular motors and dynamics

Basic elements of the cytoskeleton of a cell, Mechanisms of assembly, Dynamic
structure and regulation of actin and microtubules, Cytoskeleton-based molecular
motors and their varieties, Intracellular transport of cargo and its regulation.

Unit III: Cell cycle and regulation

The cell cycle and its control system, Interphase, Mitosis, Cytokinesis and molecular
regulation, cell transformation, cell death and apoptosis.

Unit IV: Intercellular communication

Transport mechanisms across membrane, Cell signaling, Cell junctions, Cell adhesion
and the extracellular matrix, Specialized cells, tissues, stem cells and tissue renewal.

Unit V: Genome, DNA Replication, Repair & Recombination

Genome: Composition and Structure of DNA, Supercoiling, Epigenetic modification,
Replication of single stranded circular DNA. Homologous and non-homologous
recombination, Site specific recombination; Genetic Alterations and Mutation: Types and
causes, Transposition in prokaryotes and eukaryotes; DNA repair: Direct reversal, DNA
mismatch repair, Base excision repair, Nucleotide excision repair, Recombination repair,
DNA damage tolerance.

Unit VI: Chromatin structure and dynamics

Chromatin and chromatin control, Transcriptional control, post-transcriptional control,
miRNAs and siRNAs, protein translation machinery, ribosomes, universal genetic
codes, degeneracy of codons, Wobble hypothesis, co- and post-translational
modifications

Unit VII: Transcription and Translation

Prokaryotic Transcription: Transcription unit, Promoters - Constitutive and Inducible,
Operators, Regulatory elements, Initiation, Attenuation, Termination, Anti-termination;
Transcriptional regulation: Positive and negative, Operon concept; Eukaryotic
 8

transcription: RNA polymerase structure and assembly, Eukaryotic promoters and

enhancers, Transcription factors, Role of Nucleosomes, Epigenetic regulation;
Processing of RNA: Transcript processing, Processing of tRNA and rRNA, Splicing and
role of introns and exons, RNA editing, mRNA stability, Transcriptional and post-
transcriptional gene silencing. Translation: Mechanism of initiation, Elongation and
termination, Regulatory factors, Genetic Code, Differences and similarities in eukaryotic
and prokaryotic translational process and machinery, Translational regulation of gene
expression.
RGC 305 Methods in Biochemical Techniques 4
Practical 1: Preparation and assessment of quality of buffers.
Practical 2: Estimation of protein concentration by plotting a standard graph of BSA
using UV spectrophotometer.
Practical 3: Estimation of total carbohydrates and free amino acids in cereals.
Practical 4: Estimation of protein molecular weight using standard markers and SDS-
Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis.
Practical 5: Gel Filtration Chromatography.
Practical 6: Affinity purification of a recombinant protein and assessment of purity.
Practical 7: Identification of proteins using immunoblotting.
Practical 8: Determination of the catalytic efficiency of a standard enzyme.
Practical 9: Binding assay to quantitate interaction between biological macromolecules.
RGC306 Methods in Microbiology and Cell Biology 4
Practical 1: Media preparation, microbial culture (bacterial and fungal).
Practical 2: Growth curves, preservation of the bacteria, plating, dilution plating.
Practical 3: Effect of temperature, pH, salts and other stress factors on bacterial growth.
Practical 4: Isolation of bacteria from various surroundings, Identification of bacteria by
biochemical assays and Gram staining.
Practical 5: Antibiotic or drug inhibition assays.
Practical 6: Mammalian cell culture, counting, and cryopreservation.
Practical 7: Staining of various cellular compartments.
Practical 8: Expression of foreign protein in mammalian cells.
Practical 9: Mammalian virus culture and titration.
RGC 307 Methods in Immunology 4
Practical 1: Immunization of mice and methods of bleeding, serum separation,
storage.
Practical 2: Antibody titre determination by ELISA method.
Practical 3: Double diffusion, Immuno-electrophoresis and Radial
Immunodiffusion.
Practical 4: Complement fixation test.
Practical 5: Isolation and purification of IgG from serum.
Practical 6: Blood smear identification of leucocytes by Giemsa stain.
Practical 7: Separation of leucocytes by dextran method.
Practical 8: Separation of mononuclear cells by Ficoll-Hypaque.
Practical 9: Flow cytometry, identification of T cells and their subsets.
Practical10: Lympho-proliferation by mitogen antigen induction.
RGC 308 Scientific Engagement-I 1
Each student will be required to choose a recent high quality primary research
publication and make a power point presentation to the class. The presentation should
cover all the background literature of the chosen research area. Stress should be given
to the objectives of the paper, logic of each experiment and the data analyses. In
addition, they will be expected to highlight shortcomings and alternate approaches as
appropriate. This endeavor would give them the exposure of what it takes to defend a
scientific concept in an open audience. Additionally, students of this course will
mandatorily attend all seminars conducted at the institute.
Total Credit 24
 9

PRESCRIBED READING

RGC 301 Biochemistry and Biophysics

1. Nelson, D. L., Lehninger, A. L., & Cox, M. M. (2008). Lehninger principles of
biochemistry. Macmillan.
2. Tymoczko, J. L., Berg, J. M., &Stryer, L. (2011). Biochemistry: a short course.
Macmillan.
3. Cornish-Bowden, A. (2014). Principles of enzyme kinetics. Elsevier.
4. Haynie, D. T. (2001). Biological thermodynamics. Cambridge University Press.
5. Voet, D., &Voet, J. G. (2016). Fundamentals of Biochemistry. 5thedn.Wiley &
Sons.
RGC 302 Microbiology
1. Pelczar, M. J., Chan, E. C. S., & Krieg, N. R. (2001). Text book of
microbiology. MC Graw-Hill publications, 5th edn, New York, 1193, 504-508.
2. Sherwood, L., Willey, J. M., &Woolverton, C. (2011). Prescott's microbiology.
McGraw-Hill.
3. Black, J. G. (2005). Microbiology: principles and explorations(Vol. 1). John Wiley
& Sons Incorporated.
4. Hogg, S. (2013). Essential microbiology. John Wiley & Sons.
5. Stanbury, P. F., Whitaker, A., & Hall, S. J. (2013). Principles of fermentation
technology. Elsevier.
RGC 303 Immunology
1. JanewayJr, C. A., Travers, P., Walport, M., &Shlomchik, M. J. (2001). The
complement system and innate immunity. In Immunobiology: The Immune
System in Health and Disease. 5th edition. Garland Science.
2. Virella, G. (2001). Medical immunology. CRC Press.
3. Abbas, A. K., Lichtman, A. H., &Pillai, S. (2014). Cellular and molecular
immunology E-book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
4. Khan, F. A. (2014). Biotechnology in medical sciences. CRC Press.
5. Pongracz, J., & Keen, M. (Eds.). (2009). Medical biotechnology. Elsevier Health
Sciences.
6. Goldsby, R. A., Kindt, T. J., Osborne, B. A., &Kuby, J. (2003). Immunology New
York.
RGC 304 Cell and Molecular Biology
1. Alberts, B., Johnson, A., Walter, P., Lewis, J., Raff, M., & Roberts, K. (2008).
Molecular cell biology. New York: Garland Science.
2. Lodish, H., Berk, A., Darnell, J. E., Kaiser, C. A., Krieger, M., Scott, M. P.
&Matsudaira, P. (2008). Molecular cell biology. Macmillan.
3. Lewin, B., Krebs, J. E., Goldstein, E. S., & Kilpatrick, S. T. (2014). Lewin's Genes
XI. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
4. Cooper, G. M., Hausman, R. E., &Hausman, R. E. (2000). The cell: a molecular
approach (Vol. 2). Washington, DC: ASM press..
5. Hardin, J., Bertoni, G. P., &Kleinsmith, L. J. (2017). Becker's World of the Cell.
Pearson Higher Ed.
6. Baker, T. A., Watson, J. D., & Bell, S. P. (2003). Molecular biology of the gene.
Benjamin-Cummings Publishing Company.
 10

SEMESTER 2
CODE COURSE CREDIT (S)
RGC 309 Genetics and Genetic Engineering 3
This course is designed to familiarize students with the basic principles of genetics
and genomics and their applications in the life sciences. The topics covered include
fundamentals of genetics and inheritance, cytogenetics, genetic tools, developmental
genetics and genetic disorders.

Unit I: Principles of Genetics

Principles of genetics and inheritance, cytogenetics, developmental and human
molecular genetics and associated genetic disorders, Mendelian and non-Mendelian
modes of inheritance, linkage and crossing over, complementation, epistasis,
quantitative genetics, population and evolutionary genetics

Unit II: Chromosomes and inheritance

Chromosomes and their role in inheritance, chromosomal aberrations, sex
determination and transposable elements, Genetics in animal development.

Unit III: Human Genetics

Recent advances in human molecular genetics, introduction to the human genome,
pedigree analysis, gene mapping and linkage analysis, Diagnosis and genetic
counselling in genetic and metabolic disorders.

Unit IV: Methods and Tools for genetic engineering

Isolation and quantification of nucleic acids, Gel electrophoresis, Enzymes such as
restriction endonucleases, ligases etc., Different types of vectors for gene cloning
and protein expression, cohesive and blunt end ligation, linkers, adaptors,
homopolymeric tailing, Hybridization techniques, gene synthesis,

Unit V: PCR techniques

Principles of PCR, Primer design, Types of PCR, T-vectors, proof reading enzymes;
Site specific mutagenesis; PCR in molecular diagnostics, sequencing methods;
mutation detection: SSCP, DGGE, RFLP

Unit VI: Gene manipulation and protein-DNA interaction

Insertion of foreign DNA into host cells; construction of libraries; isolation of RNA,
reverse transcriptase and cDNA synthesis; cDNA and genomic libraries, study of
protein-DNA interactions, Gene silencing technologies, genome editing by CRISPR-
Cas.
RGC 310 Proteomics and Genomics 2
The objective of this course is to provide introductory knowledge concerning
genomics, proteomics and their applications.

Unit I: Introduction to Genomics

Organization of genome in Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes; C-value paradox, Organelle
DNA; DNA sequencing-principles and translation to large scale projects; Recognition
of coding and non-coding sequences and gene annotation; Tools for genome
analysis-RFLP, DNA fingerprinting, RAPD, PCR, Linkage and Pedigree analysis-
physical and genetic mapping

Unit II: Genome sequencing projects

Microbes, plants and animals; Accessing and retrieving genome project information
from web; Comparative genomics, Identification and classification using molecular
 11

markers-16S rRNA typing/sequencing, ESTs and SNPs, ENCODE project, exome

sequencing and Databases

Unit III: Proteomics

Protein analysis (includes measurement of concentration, amino-acid composition, N-
terminal sequencing);2-D electrophoresis of proteins; Micro-scale solution iso-electric
focusing; Peptide fingerprinting; LC/MS-MS for identification of proteins and modified
proteins; MALDI-TOF; Differential display proteomics, Yeast/Bacterial two hybrid
system

Unit IV: Functional genomics and proteomics

Analysis of microarray data; Protein and peptide microarray-based technology;
SAGE, RNA-Seq & Transcriptomics, Chip-Seq; PCR- directed protein in situ arrays;
RNAi screens, Protein-protein interactions & Interactome studies.
RGC 311 Bioinformatics and Structural Biology 2
The course will provide an overview on the databases and methods available to
exploit genomics data. Also, the function of the majority of biological macromolecules
is governed by their three dimensional structure. This course will introduce basic
concepts regarding macromolecule structure and the computational/experimental
methods utilized to obtain structural information.

Unit I: Tools for Bioinformatics

Introduction to UNIX environment, Unix file system; Installing & executing programs in
LINUX environment; Web-Based & Command-Line Software culture, Basic command
line operations; Fundamentals of computer programming & Biostatistics – Python and
R package. Introduction to common text editors.

Unit II: Biological data resources

Biological data resources, access & management–Genomes across the tree of life,
Major sequencing projects, Major centralized bioinformatics databases to store DNA,
RNA, protein sequences & 3-D structures. Navigating through major resources and
services at NCBI, Web based and command- line access to information. Overview of
major web resources for the study of genomes.

Unit III: Biological sequence analysis

Scoring matrices; Evaluation of significance of results using E-value and Bit score;
Sequence alignment programs, Molecular Phylogenetics, Web resources available for
Plants.

Unit IV: Structure and function of Macromolecules and complexes

Principles of protein structure and function, Structure and function of enzymes,
Structure and function of Nucleic Acids, Structure and function of Lipids and
Carbohydrates, Structure of Complexes and Macromolecular Assemblies, Virus
Structures and Assembly, Protein Folding.

Unit V: Structure determination of Macromolecules

Basic concepts and methods in Macromolecular Crystallography, Nuclear Magnetic
Resonance, Cryo-Electron Microscopy, Circular dichroism, Forster Energy,
Resonance Transfer, Small Angle X-ray Scattering, Mass Spectrometry, Dynamic
Light Scattering, Analytical Ultracentrifugation, Computational Methods for
determination of structure, Molecular Dynamics Simulations.
RGC 312 Biostatistics and Data Analysis 2
The course will provide information regarding basic concepts and common practices
for the analysis of biological data using statistical tools and provide opportunity to
students to apply these methods on available data sets.
 12

Unit 1: Scope of Statistics in Biological Research

Applications of statistics in biology, definitions (populations, samples), Basic concepts,
type of data, various data collection methods, Diagrams and graphs;Measuresof
averages and location; Measures of dispersion; Probability and probability theory, Use
of statistical packages on biologicaldata.

Unit II: Statistical Methods

Descriptive: Graphical representation on various type of data, Use of each measure of
location; Measures of spread: Variance and Standard Deviation, Standard Error;
Skewness, Kurtosis; Quantiles, Outliers; Inferential: Framing hypothesis, Hypothetico-
deductive method, Definition & Concept of types of hypothesis, types of errors,
Power, Level; Storing Data in public repositories; Applications ofNGS.

Unit III: Transcriptomics and Proteomics Data Analysis

Next generation sequence analysis – RNA Introduction to Microarrays and RNA-Seq:
Data acquisition & Analysis. Microarray data analysis using TopHat and Cuffflinks,
Functional annotation of microarray/Rna-seq data. Proteomics: Protein analysis &
prediction using different Protein Data Bank (PDB); Basics of Protein Structure
Prediction (Homology Modeling, Fold Recognition, Ab-Initio Prediction); Proteomic
resources; Fundamentals of molecular docking, Chip-Seq data analysis.
RGC 313 Research Methodology 2
This course is designed to enable the student to understand the basic principles and
practices of common methods used for research in Life Science& Biotechnology. The
course deals with contemporary research methodologies, experimental design, data
analysis and presentation.

Unit I: Research Design, Conduct, Regulation, Recording & Presentation

Formulation of a research problem, Ethics and code of conduct in research, Data
falsification, Plagiarism, Data security, Laboratory behavior, Biosafety and IT usage
policy, Regulatory issues in Biotechnology, Maintenance of laboratory notebooks,
Grant/Fellowship/Report writing, Manuscript Writing, Seminar Presentation.

Unit II: Literature Search, Use of Databases and Experimental Design

Databases for literature search, Bibliometrics, Citation, Impact factor, Hypothesis as a
framework for scientific projects, Experimental design, taking measurements, Data
Analysis, sampling, statistical tests with excel, handling data, hypothesis testing

Unit II: Good Laboratory Practices

Responsibilities of a researcher, handling and storage of biological material,
laboratory waste disposal, management of personnel, facilities, buildings and
equipment.

Unit III: Bio-entrepreneurship and IP management in Biotechnology

Bio-entrepreneurship, Funding options, Introduction to Intellectual Property Rights,
Types of IP, Patent search, IP management, Technology transfer.
RGC 314 Methods in Genetic Engineering 4
Practical 1: Agarose gel electrophoresis of DNA.
Practical 2: Isolation of genomic DNA, quantitation and characterization.
Practical 3: Isolation of RNA and assessment of quality.
Practical 4: Isolation of Plasmid DNA, assessment of quality and characterization.
Practical 5: Preparation of competent E. coli cells and genetic transformation.
Practical 6: Polymerase chain reaction and assessment.
Practical 7: Restriction digestion of plasmid DNA and assessment of quality.
Practical 8: DNA ligation and transformation.
 13

Practical 9: Confirmation of DNA cloning through PCR and restriction digestion.

RGC 315 Methods in Bioinformatics 4
Practical 1: Basic UNIX commands for routine tasks
Practical 2: Running NCBI-BLAST for protein, DNA and RNA sequences.
Practical3: Installation of NCBI SRA toolkit and to download raw sequencing data
(DNA-seq, RNA-seq, ChIP-seqetc).
Practical 4: Simple applications of UCSC Genome Browser like Quality Check of raw
sequencing data and estimation of number of SNPs per exon in human chromosome
22.
Practical 5: Processing of raw sequencing data like adapter trimming, removal of bad
quality reads and trimming bad quality tails of reads etc.
Practical 6: Alignment of reads against reference genome using bowtie or bwa or/and
tophat, STAR aligner etc including analysis of output files.
Practical 7: Visualization of protein structures using Pymol, Rasmol& UCSF Chimera
etc.
Practical 8: Homology modelling using Swiss Model and/or Modeller.
Practical 9: Calculation of binding affinity (Kd) for protein-ligand interactions using
Autodock and/or DOCK.
RGC 316 Methods in Proteomics 4
Practical 1: Protein isolation from cells and protein estimation for proteomics
analyses.
Practical 2: Gel based proteomics (all steps in two-dimensional gel electrophoresis).
Practical 3: Demonstration of biological mass spectrometry & soft ionizations (MALDI-
TOF & ESI-Q-TOF).
Practical 4: In-gel and in-solution trypsin digestion of protein.
Practical 5: Sample preparations for MALDI & Electro SprayIonization.
Practical 6: Protein identification by peptide mass fingerprinting & database search.
Practical 7: Protein identification by MS/MS sequencing & database search.
Practical 8: High throughput proteomic protein profiling, data pre-
processing,quality control and post-MS data analyses.
Practical 9: Analyses of protein post-translational modifications.
Practical 10: Label-free protein relative quantification or protein expression
RGC 317 Scientific Communication 1
For a successful scientist, it is very important to effectively convey his work to both the
technical and non-technical audience. This may be in the form of verbal and visual
communication in the form of seminars and presentations, and written communication
in the form of reports, manuscripts, and grant proposals. This course aims to
encourage the students to inculcate these attributes by making presentations.

Total Credits 24

PRESCRIBED READING

RGC 309 Genetics and Genetic Engineering

1. Klug, W. S., Cummings, M. R., Spencer, C. A., &Palladino, M. A. (2015). Concepts of
Genetics. 11th Edition. Pearson Higher Ed.
2. Snustad, D. P. & Simmons, M. J., (2015). Principles of genetics. 7th Edition. John Wiley &
Sons.
3. Pierce, B. A. (2017). Genetics: A conceptual approach. 6th Edition Macmillan.
4. Green, M. R., &Sambrook, J. (2012). Molecular cloning. A Laboratory Manual, 4th Edition,
CSHL Press.
5. Watson, J. D, Baker, T. A., Bell, S. P., Gann, A., Levine, M. &Losick, R.M. (2013). Molecular
 14

biology of the gene. 7th Edition. Pearson.

6. Krebs, J. E., Goldstein, E. S., & Kilpatrick, S. T. (2017). Lewin's Genes XII. 12th Edition Jones &
Bartlett Learning.
RGC 310 Proteomics and Genomics
1. Voet, D., Voet, J. G., & Pratt, C. W. (2016). Fundamentals of biochemistry: life at the molecular
level. 5th Edition. John Wiley & Sons.
2. Campbell, A. M., &Heyer, L. J. (2006). Discovering genomics, proteomics, and bioinformatics.
2nd Edition. Pearson.
3. Primrose, S. B., &Twyman, R. (2013). Principles of gene manipulation and genomics. John
Wiley & Sons.
4. Glick, B. R., Pasternak, J. J., & Patten, C. L. (2010). Molecular biotechnology: principles and
applications of recombinant DNA. Washington, DC: ASM Press.
RGC 311 Bioinformatics and Structural Biology
1. Schulz, G. E., &Schirmer, R. H. (2013). Principles of protein structure. Springer Science &
Business Media.
2. Liljas, A., Liljas, L., Piskur, J., Nissen, P., &Kjeldgaard, M. (2009). Textbook of structural
biology. World Scientific Publishing Company.
3. Lesk, A. (2014). Introduction to bioinformatics. Oxford University Press.
4. Tramontano, A. (2006). Protein structure prediction: concepts and applications. In Protein
Structure Prediction: concepts and applications.
RGC 312 Biostatistics and Data Analysis
1. Mann, P. S. (2007). Introductory statistics. John Wiley & Sons.
2. Rice, J. A. (2006). Mathematical statistics and data analysis. Cengage Learning.
3. Campbell, A. M., &Heyer, L. J. (2003). Discovering genomics, proteomics, and
bioinformatics (No. QH447 C35 2007). San Francisco: Benjamin Cummings.
RGC 313 Research Methodology
1. Katz, M. J. (2009). From research to manuscript: a guide to scientific writing. Springer
Science & Business Media.
2. Holmes, D. , Moody, P., Dine, D. and Trueman, L.(2016). Research Methods for the
Biosciences. Oxford University Press.
3. Glass, D.J. (2014). Experimental Design for Biologists, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
4. Ruxton, G.D. and Colegrave, N.(2016). Experimental design for the Life Sciences 4th
Edition Oxford University Press.
5. https://www.who.int/tdr/publications/documents/glp-trainer.pdf
6. http://www.w3.org/IPR/http://www.wipo.int/portal/index.html
7. http://www.ipr.co.uk/IP_conventions/patent_cooperation_treaty.html
8. http://www.cbd.int/biosafety/background.shtml
9. http://web.princeton.edu/sites/ehs/biosafety/biosafetypage/section3.html
 15

STREAM SPECIFIC COURSES

SEMESTER III

STREAM 1: DISEASE BIOLOGY

ONE CREDIT = 12 TEACHING HOURS

Code Course Credit(s)
RGC 401 Human Anatomy and Physiology 3
This course covers all major organs and systems of human body, including basic anatomy,
cellular structure and function, integration, organization and control of the body systems.

Unit I: Cellular and tissue level of organization

Chemical and Cellular levels of organization, cell division, cellular diversity and cell ageing.
Tissue level of organization, epithelial and connective tissues, muscular tissue, nervous
tissue and tissue repair.

Unit II: Bone, skeletal and muscular systems

Overview of the skeletal and muscular systems, skeletal muscle tissue, contraction and
relaxation of skeletal muscle fibers, muscle metabolism, cardiac muscle tissue, smooth
muscle tissue regeneration of muscle tissue, ageing and muscle tissue, structure and
functions of the bone, bone formation, fracture and repair of the bone, role of bone in calcium
homeostasis; ageing and bone tissue.

Unit III: Nervous tissue

Overview of the nervous system, histology of nervous tissue, electrical signals in neurons,
signal transmission at synapses, neurotransmitters, neural circuits, central nervous system,
brain organization, blood supply to brain and spinal cord, cerebrospinal fluid, somatic and
autonomic nervous systems

Unit IV: Endocrine system

Overview of the endocrine system, endocrine glands, hormones and their function,
mechanisms of hormone action, hormone-producing glands (hypothalamus, pituitary, pineal
gland, thyroid, parathyroid, adrenals, pancreas, ovaries and testis).

Unit V: Blood, Cardiovascular and Lymphatic systems

Overview of blood, cardiovascular and lymphatic systems, anatomy of the heart, blood
circulation to heart, heart valves, cardiac muscle tissue and contraction, cardiac cycle,
anatomy and function of blood vessels, capillary exchange, hemodynamics, regulation of
blood pressure, circulatory routes, shock and homoeostasis, anatomy and function of
lymphatic system, development of lymphatic tissues.

Unit VI: Respiratory system

Overview of the respiratory system, anatomy of the respiratory system, pulmonary ventilation,
exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide, transport of oxygen and carbon dioxide, control of
respiration.

Unit VII: Digestive and Gastro-intestinal systems

Overview of the digestive system: peritoneum, mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach,
pancreas, liver, gall bladder, small intestine and large intestine; and phases of digestion. Fluid
 16

compartments, electrolytes and acid-base homeostasis.

Unit VIII: Urinary system

Overview of urinary system, structure and function of kidney, glomerular filtration, tubular
reabsorption and secretion.

Unit IX: Reproductive system

Overview of male and female reproductive systems, hormones, female reproductive cycle.
RGC 402 Human Diseases and Health Care Policy 2
Over the last decade, there has been increasing recognition of the value of epidemiological
analysis in aiding the design and interpretation of diseases from a population perspective.
This course will provide a study based understanding of epidemiology, pathophysiology and
treatment of common human diseases as well as the healthcare policy of India.

Unit I: Epidemiology.
Overview of epidemiology, epidemiology tools, definition and natural history of diseases,
quantifying disease in population, comparing disease rate, outbreaks of disease,
epidemiological aspects of infections and chronic diseases of national importance.

Unit II: Basics of Pathophysiology.

Introduction to the basics of pathophysiology, altered cellular and tissue biology, cellular
adaptation, atrophy, hypertrophy, hyperplasia, dysplasia, metaplasia, cell injury,
immunological & inflammatory injury, manifestations of cellular injury, cell death: apoptosis,
necrosis and autophagy.

Unit III: Pathophysiology of Organ Dysfunction and Disorders.

Diseases of nervous system: definition of pain, neuro anantomy of pain, sleep disorders,
alteration of cognitive systems, seizure disorders, alterations in cerebral hemodynamics,
alterations in neuromotor functions, disorders of the central and peripheral nervous systems
and neuromuscular junctions. Diseases of the endocrine system: alterations of the
hypothalamic and pituitary systems and diseases, thyroid dysfunction and diseases,
endocrine pancreas dysfunction and diseases, adrenal dysfunction and diseases. Disorders
of perfusion, alterations of hemostasis, vascular disorders, coronary circulation disorders,
cardiac disorders and heart failure. Reproductive dysfunctions, female and male reproductive
disorders, sexually transmitted diseases.

Unit IV: Public Heath Policy.

Overview of public health policy, overview of WHO and global health policies, overview of
Indian public health policies, Indian public health policies for infections and chronic diseases,
concept of one health, design and implementation of public health policy, impact of
socioeconomic and political factors on public health care policy.

Unit V: Health Care Management

Overview of public health care management in India and other countries. Strategic health
care management to major health care challenges in India. Health care management for
major diseases in India. Organizational performance of hospitals, physician practices and
community health care centers for treating above diseases.
RGC 403 Introduction to Drug Discovery and Development 2
In this course, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the principles of Drug
Discovery and Development.

Unit I: Drug Discovery and Development.

An Overview of Modern Methods and Principles; Different domains and steps in drug
discovery and development; Challenges in modern drug discovery
 17

Unit II: Classical Targets in Drug Discovery

Protein Structure, Enzymes, Inhibition of Enzymes, G-Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCRs),
Ion Channels, Membrane Transport Proteins (Transporters), Emerging Targets

Unit III: In vitro Screening Systems.

The Language of Screening: IC50, EC50, GI50 values.
Biochemical versus Cellular Assays; Assay Systems and Methods of Detection; Radio ligand
Assay Systems; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA); Fluorescence-Based Assay
Systems; Reporter Gene Assays; Kinetic Fluorescent Measurement Systems; Label-Free
Assay Systems; Electrophysiological Patch Clamp Assays; Application of Streptavidin and
Biotin affinity assays.

Unit IV: Medicinal Chemistry, Safety and Toxicology

Basic understanding of the medicinal chemistry & Structure Activity Relationship, hit
identification to lead development process; Basic principal of Pharmacokinetics and
Pharmacodynamics; Ligand and Target based Toxicity; Acute versus Chronic Toxicity;
Carcinogenicity, Genotoxicity, and Mutagenicity; Drug–Drug Interactions; Cardiovascular
Safety and Toxicology Studies; Central Nervous System Safety and Toxicology Studies

Unit V: Basics of Clinical Trials and Biomarkers

Phases of Clinical Trails (I-IV), Translational Medicine and Biomarkers; Definition of a
Biomarker and Their Classification; Characteristics and Impact of Biomarkers; the Practical
Application of Biomarkers.
RGC 404 Human Disease Biology 4
This course will provide detailed understanding of cancer,diabetes and
cardiovascular disorders, and also infectious diseases and stem cell disorders.

Cancer

Unit I: Fundamentals of cancer

Overview of cancer biology, nature of cancer, classification of cancers and tumors, cancer
epidemiology.

Unit II: Etiology of cancer

Tobacco and cancer development, cancer susceptibility syndromes, viruses and cancer (RNA
and DNA viruses), inflammation and cancer, chemical & physical carcinogens,
carcinogenesis, types of carcinogenesis, diet and cancer.

Unit III: Molecular Biology of Cancer

Cellular Oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, signaling, cell cycle regulation, programmed
cell death, telomeres.

Unit IV: Invasion and Metastasis

Angiogenesis and its implication in tumor progression, evolution and pathogenesis of
metastasis, models for metastasis, cancer stem cells.

Unit V: Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy

Anti-tumor immune response of regulatory T cells, NK cells, immune surveillance theory,
tumor associated antigens, evasion of immune surveillance by cancer cells, principles of
immunotherapy, CART cells.

Unit VII: Cancer treatment and management

Cancer treatment – radiation, chemotherapy and surgery, use of cell kinetics to optimize
cancer treatment, principles of drug trials for new cancer treatment, monoclonal antibodies as
anti cancer agents, new modalities in cancer treatment.
 18

Diabetes and Cardiovascular Diseases

Unit I: Diabetes
Overview of diabetes, types of diabetes (Type I, II diabetes mellitus and MODY),
pathophysiology of diabetes, clinical symptoms of diabetes, hyperglycemia, insulin resistance,
alteration in blood lipid signatures,vascular clot formation, atherosclerotic clot
formation,activation of vascular endothelium, vascular complications, treatment and
management.

Unit II: Cardiovascular Diseases

Overview of cardiovascular diseases, pathophysiology and changes in circulation of heart,
cardiac electrophysiology, diagnosis of altered coronary arteries and veins, risk factors,
coronary artery disease, congenital heart defects; heart failure, venous diseases, pulmonary
vascular disease, rheumatic heart disease, pericardial diseases and endocarditis;
diagnostic/prognostic methods of cardiovascular diseases. Recent advances in
cardiovascular disease therapeutics, experimental models of cardiovascular diseases.

Infectious Diseases

Unit I: Viral Infections

Overview of viral infection, structure and classification of viruses, viral diseases,

epidemiology, pathogenesis and clinical symptoms, vaccines and antiviral strategies,
treatment and management.

Unit II: Bacterial Infections.

Overview of bacterial infections, structure and classification of bacteria, molecular biology of
pathogen-host interaction, human microbiota and their role in human health, gut microbiom,
chronic microbial infections and their long-term consequences, drug-resistant bacteria,
biofilms, antibiotics and antimicrobial agents, treatment and management.

Unit III. Protozoan infections.

Overview of protozoan infections, classification, diseases, epidemiology, pathogenesis,
treatment and management.

Stem Cell and Developmental Disorders

Unit I: Stem Cells

Overview of stem cell biology, culture, derivation, differentiation of embryonic/adult/fetal stem
cells, differentiation to different lineages, clinical applications, stem cell niches, organoids;
and cancer stem cells.

Unit II: Stem Cell Disorders

Overview of stem cell dysfunctions and disorders, stem cell aplasia (aplastic anemia),
monoclonal hematopoietic stem cell proliferative syndrome (leukemia and myelodysplastic
syndrome), and polyclonal hematopoietic stem cell proliferative syndrome (systemic and
organ-specific autoimmune diseases), mesenchymal stem cell disorders (Alzheimer's
disease, osteoporosis, and lung fibrosis) and organ-specific stem cell disorders
(carcinosarcoma in the lung and adeno-endocrine cell carcinoma in the stomach),
pathogenesis and treatment.

Unit III: Therapeutic applications of stem cells

Clinical and experimental applications of stem cells, tissue engineering approaches for stem
cells, ethical issues of using these cells, clinical facilities required for human stem cell
transplantation. Current therapeutic use of stem cells in disease: neural disorders,
 19

hematopoietic disorders and cardio vascular diseases, use of embryonic stem cells,
derivation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), recent advances in use of iPSCs,
different kind of stem cell banking.

Unit IV: Developmental Disorders

Overview of developmental disorders, childhood anxiety disorders, attention-deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conduct disorder, autism, and intellectual disability (intellectual
developmental disorder), prevalence and pathogenesis, treatment.
RGC 405 Methods in Cell & Molecular Biology applied toCancer and 3
Cardiovascular Disease Biology
Practical 1: Immunocytochemistry and immunohistochemistry for the detection of
tumor specific markers in different types of cancers
Practical 2: Genotyping of HPV viruses
Practical 3: Apoptosis assay
Practical 4: Flow cytometry based analysis of cancer cell cycle.
Practical 5: Cancer cell invasion assay by matrigel invasion and scratch assay
Practical 6: In vivo Tumorigenic assay in NOD-SCID mice
Practical 7: Metastatic assay- Tail vein Injection of cells in NOD-SCID mice followed by
IHC of metastatic lesions.
Practical 8: Telomere repeat assay
Practical 9: Staining of animal heart tissues including masson trichome and Oil Red O
staining.
RGC 406 Methods in Cell & Molecular Biology applied to Infectious Disease Biology 4
Practical 1: Culture and Isolation of animal viruses
Practical 2: Haemagglutination and Hemaglutination inhibition assays
Practical 3: ELISA method for virus Ag/Ab detection
Practical 4: Detection of viral proteins by Western Blot
Practical 5: PCR based detection of viral nucleic acid
Practical 6: Viral genome sequencing by Sanger’s method
Practical 7: Basic computational approaches in viral phylogenetics- Sequence
alignment by Clustal W, construction of Neighbour Joining trees
Practical 8: Bacteriological examination of water
Practical 9: Isolation of Metagenome from microbial populations in environmental
samples and gut microbiome
Practical 10: Detection of protozoa in contaminated water samples.
RGC 407 Methods in Stem Cell Biology 4
Practical 1: Observation and understanding the cell morphology of mouse/human
embryonic stem cell in culture condition
Practical 2: Culture and passaging of Embryonic stem cells
Practical 3: Differentiation of embryonic stem cell to embryoid bodies and analysis of
gene expression pattern in cells
Practical 4: Differentiation of embryonic stem cells to different lineages followed
by the sorting of these cells by FACS
Practical 5: Isolation of adult stem cells from patient samples.
Practical 6: Observation and understanding the generation of induced
pluripotent stem cells from fibroblasts.

Total Credits 22
 20

PRESCRIBED READING

RGC 401 Human Anatomy and Physiology

1. Tortora, G. J., &Derrickson, B. H. (2008). Principles of anatomy and physiology. John
Wiley & Sons.
2. Kurpad, A., Vaz, M., & Raj, T. D. (2013). Guyton & Hall: Textbook of Medical
Physiology-A South Asian Edition. Elsevier India
RGC 402 Human Disease and Health Care Policy
1. DeVita, V. T., Lawrence, T. S., & Rosenberg, S. A. (2012). Cancer: principles &
practice of oncology: primer of the molecular biology of cancer. Lippincott Williams &
Wilkins. Wolters Kluwer.
2. Libby, P., Bonow, R. O., Mann, D. L., &Zipes, D. P. (2007). Braunwald's Heart
Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine, 2-Volume Set. Elsevier Health
Sciences.
3. Sorenson, M., Quinn, L., Klein, D. (2018). Pathophysiology: A Case-based Approach.
4. Harris, R.E., (2007). Epidemiology of chronic diseases. Jones & Bartlett learning.
5. Banerjee B. (2018). DK Taneja’s Health Policies &Programmes in India. Ed. 16.
Jaypee Brothers Medical Publisher
6. https://www.nhp.gov.in/health-policies_pg
7. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/38985/9/09_chapter-i.pdf
RGC 403 Introduction to Drug Discovery and Development
1. Blass, B. (2015). Basic principles of drug discovery and development. Elsevier.
2. Brunt LL, Hilal-Dandan R, Knollmann BC. (2017). Goodman and Gilman’s The
Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics. 13thedn. Publisher: McGraw Hill Education
3. Tozer, T.N., Rowland, M. (2006). Introduction to Pharmacokinetics and
Pharmacodynamics. 4thedn.Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
RGC 404 Human Disease Biology
Cancer
1. DeVita, V. T., Lawrence, T. S., & Rosenberg, S. A. (2012). Cancer: principles &
practice of oncology: primer of the molecular biology of cancer. Lippincott Williams &
Wilkins. Wolters Kluwer.
2. Weinberg, R. (2013). The biology of cancer. Garland science, Taylor & Francis Group.
Diabetes& Cardiovascular Diseases
1. Libby, P., Bonow, R. O., Mann, D. L., &Zipes, D. P. (2007). Braunwald's Heart
Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine, 2-Volume Set. Elsevier Health
Sciences.
2. Poretsky, L. (Ed.). (2010). Principles of diabetes mellitus (pp. 347-351). New York:
Springer.
3. Skyler, J. (Ed.). (2012). Atlas of diabetes. Springer Science & Business Media.
4. Alsahli, M., &Gerich, J. E. (2012). Pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. In Atlas of
Diabetes (pp. 149-166). Springer, Boston, MA.
Infectious Diseases
1. Evans, A. S. (2013). Viral infections of humans: epidemiology and control.
Springer Science & Business Media.
2. Flint, S. J., Enquist, L. W., Krug, R. M., Racaniello, V. R., &Skalka, A. M.
(2000). Principles of virology: molecular biology, pathogenesis and control.
ASM press.
3. Murray, P. R. (2017). Basic Medical Microbiology. Elsevier Health Sciences.
4. Russell, D. G., & Gordon, S. (Eds.). (2009). Phagocyte-pathogen interactions.
ASM press.
Stem Cell and Developmental Disorders
1. Knoepfler, P. (2013). Stem cells: an insider's guide. World Scientific.
2. Meyers, R. A. (Ed.). (2013). Stem cells: from biology to therapy. John Wiley & Sons.
3. Lanza, R., Langer, R., &Vacanti, J. P. (Eds.). (2011). Principles of tissue engineering.
Academic press.
 21

STREAM 2: GENETIC ENGINEERING

SEMESTER III
ONE CREDIT = 12 TEACHING HOURS

CODE COURSE CREDIT

(S)
Genetic Engineering: Techniques, Models and Applications
RGC 408 Genetic engineering is a technology that has been developed based on our 3
fundamental understanding of the principles of molecular biology and this is
reflected in the contents of this course. This technology has revolutionized the way
modern biological research is done and has impacted mankind with a number of
biological products and processes. Here in this course, we would understand the
different techniques used to manipulate genes, means to transfer these genes,
express those genes in microbes, their application in biology and the generation of
genetically modified organisms/plants.

Unit I: Gene manipulation techniques

Cloning, Transgenesis and site-specific recombination: Cre-Lox, Phi31 integrase,
Genome editing: ZFNs, TALENs, CRISPR/Cas9, Multi-gene assemblies and high-
throughput DNA assembly techniques. Molecular imaging: Fluorescent tagging of
fixed and live cells, CRISPR-based DNA tagging, rainbow imaging, Quantitative and
high-throughput single-cell image analysis.

Unit II: Gene transfer techniques

Biological methods, chemical methods, physical or mechanical methods,
Agrobacterium- mediated gene transfer in plants, Chloroplast transformation.
Bacteria as model systems in genetic analysis: Mutation, recombination, test of
allelism, gene mapping. Methods of gene transfer in bacteria.

Unit III: Microbial biotechnology

Genetic manipulation, Engineering microbes for the production of antibiotics,
enzymes, insulin, growth hormones, monoclonal antibodies, microbes for clearing oil
spills

Unit IV: Application of genome engineering

Application in synthetic and developmental biology - Application in human genetics,
disease phenotyping, Gene targeting and silencing, Gene therapy in the treatment
of diseases, Challenges and future of gene therapy. Biopharming-plants and
animals as bioreactors.

Unit V: Genetically Modified Organisms/plants

Importance in Basic & Applied Research, Cloning by nuclear transfer, transgenic
technology: Transgenic mice, Transgenic Drosophila, Transgenic C elegans,
Transgenic Zebra Fish, Transgenic Arabidopsis, Transgenic Cattle, Transgenic
Chicken, Transgenic Goat, Gene-targeted Mouse models, Transgenic Plants.
 22

Plant Genetic Engineering

RGC 409 The course is designed to provide students with specialized knowledge of the theory 3
and practical skills of plant tissue culture, somatic cell genetics and genetic
engineering relevant to crop improvement. It deals with the various cell and tissue
culture systems and their applications, plant transformation vectors and methods,
and potential applications of transgenic technology in agriculture and healthcare.

Unit I: Plant tissue culture

Scope, Importance and limitations of plant tissue culture; Tissue culture media -
composition and preparation.

Unit II: Micro propagation of plants

Initiation and maintenance of callus and suspension cultures; in vitro genetic
conservation; in vitro clonal multiplication; Plant growth regulators for
organogenesis, somaclonal variation and cell line selection, production of haploids
and homozygous cell lines. Selection and maintenance of cell lines,
cryopreservation, germplasm collection and conservation.

Unit III: Genetics in evolution

Origins of Agriculture, Evolution and distribution of species and forms - wild relatives
and germplasm; Genetics – cytogenetics and genome relationship, Centers of origin
and biodiversity hot spots; Crop domestication: domestication syndrome,
monophyletic and polyphyletic domestication with examples. Twenty-first Century
Plant Domestication. Gene bank management: Gene conversion, Gene duplication
and divergent evolution, collecting, maintenance, evaluation, storage and
documentation Genetic diversity within crops, Tools for drawing phylogenetic
inferences and its importance.

Unit IV: Genetics in Crop improvement methods

Breeding, Hybridization, backcross breeding, recombinant inbred lines, Molecular
breeding- marker assisted selection (MAS), foreground and background selection,
QTLs- cisQTLs, eQTLs, trait introgression, Genome wide association studies.
Cytoplasmic male sterility and principles of hybrid seed production, TGMS and
PGMS, applications of male sterility in hybrid seed production. Transgenic male
sterility, clonal propagation, grafting and their uses, Plant tissue culture, Hormones
and their uses, Double haploids development mechanisms and its application in
crop improvement. Whole genome sequencing and transcriptomics uses in crop
improvement.

Unit V: Biotechnological advances in crop improvement

Plant transformation vectors - T-DNA and viral vectors, direct gene transfer vectors;
Selectable marker and reporter genes, Plant transformation by Agrobacterium sp.,
non-Agrobacterium sp., and in planta transformation, Molecular mechanism of T-
DNA transfer; Direct gene transfer methods in plants - Gene gun and other
methods; Chloroplast transformation; Transgene analysis, silencing and targeting;
Marker-free and novel selection strategies; Multigene engineering; Genetic
engineering methods to improve stress tolerance. Binary vectors, overexpression,
gene silencing, gene editing, plant transformation, transgenic plants few examples
(Bt-cotton, Bt-brinjal). Socio-economic benefits of transgenic plants, Biosafety -
ethical issues associated with GM crops. Gene knock-down by ribozymes,
antisense RNA and RNA interference. Applications of plant transgenic technology:
 23

Transgenic crops for resistance against biotic and abiotic stresses; Engineering
crops for male sterility and modification of flower colour, flowering, fruit ripening and
senescence; GM crops for nutritional quality and quantity; RNAi-mediated crop
improvement; Molecular pharming; Metabolic engineering and hairy root culture for
secondary plant products; Other applications; Global status and biosafety of
transgenic plants.

RNAi- Biology and applications

RGC 410 This course covers the basic aspects of RNAi biology, use of siRNA and 2
microRNAs for gene silencing, RNAi vectors and generation of transgenic
animals and plants expressing dsRNA. The current and potential applications of
RNAi in healthcare and agriculture are also covered.

Unit I: Types of RNAi

Discovery of RNA interference (RNAi)- a historical perspective across multiple
species, RNAi in plants and fungi, RNAi in Ceanorhabdites elegans and Drosophila,
RNAi in mammalian systems: PTGS, RNAi and related phenomena. Categories of
small non-coding RNAs: dsRNAs, siRNAs, shRNAs, piRNAs and miRNAs,
Detection of small RNAs.

Unit II: Mechanism of RNAi

Different components of RNAi pathway and their evolutionary conservation and role
in gene silencing, RNAi-like pathway in bacteria, Molecular basis of RNAi /siRNA
/miRNA mediated gene silencing, Enzymes involved in RNAi including Dicer, RISC,
RNA helicase, RNA dependent RNA polymerase. RNAi in defense and the
regulation of chromatin structure and gene expression; RNAi suppressors.

Unit III: Large-scale analysis by RNAi

Large-scale genetic analysis using RNAi: Genome-wide RNAi screens in mouse
and human geneomes to identify new transcriptional module, gene discovery related
disease like cancer, building mammalian signaling pathways, High-throughput small
RNA profiling, RNAi microarrays.

Unit IV: miRNAs and siRNAs

Pathways, expression and functions of microRNAs, High-throughput analysis of
miRNA gene expression including analysis using sensitive probes; siRNA vectors-
their composition, selectable markers, use of RNA PolIII promoter; siRNA delivery in
vitro and in vivo like plasmid injection, tail vein injection and liposome formulation,
the techniques in creating knockout mice using transgenic siRNA, Advantages of
transgenic siRNA over conventional knockout technology; RNA informatics -
Computational tools for miRNA discovery, Regulatory RNAs, RNA processing, RNA
sequence and structure, RNA complexes, Translational control and RNA biology
and disease, siRNA and miRNA design

Unit V. Double stranded RNA and its applications

Expression of dsRNA in animals and plants, and its applications: RNAi vectors
and generation of transgenic animals and plants, Analysis of expression of
dsRNA and gene silencing; The use of RNAi in the prevention of diseases in
animal models and crop improvement; RNAi therapy; Future prospects of RNAi
in biology, medicine and agriculture.

Genetic engineering in animals

RGC 411 The course is designed to provide students with specialized knowledge of the theory 2
and practical skills of genetic engineering involved in the generation of transgenic
animals and the ethics associated with it.
 24

Unit I: Genetic engineering in creation of transgenic animals

Functional genomics and animal models in human disease: cDNA/gene cloning;
site-directed mutagenesis; mammalian tissue culture; cell line transfections;
functional assays; Use of model organisms, methods for generation of transgenic
animals/ knock-in, knock- out models (microinjection, ES cell transformation);
ENumutagenesis; RNAi approach, In vitro gamete maturation. In vitro fertilization
(IVF) and embryo transfer (ET), Sex determination or sex specific makers, sexing of
sperm and embryos, Assisted reproductive technology (ART). Somatic cloning of
animals.Improvements of animal production and quality using transgenic approach
with specific examples.

Unit II: Gene Transfer methods in Animals

Gene cloning vectors, Techniques for genetic engineering, Gene cloning, Gene
transfer and expression of induced genes, Microinjection, Embryonic-stem cells
Transfer, Retro-virus and Gene transfer, Xenografting

Unit III. Biosafety in genetic engineering

Value of Transgenic Animals, Biosafety measures in Transgenic Animal Research,
Compliance with NIH Guidelines, Policies & Protocols, Disposal of Transgenic
Animals, Transfer of Recombinant DNA and Transgenic Materials.

Unit IV. Bioethics in genetic engineering

Patenting Genetically Engineered Animals -Trends in Biotechnology Patenting,
Biotech Patent Processing, Pharmaceutical Biotech Patents, Genetic Engineering
Patents, PTO Analysis, Patent protection of living organisms, Gene technology laws
in other countries

Unit V. Pharmaceutical products of DNA technology

Human protein replacements, Human therapies, Vaccines

Methods in genetic manipulation of plants

RGC 412 4
Practical 1: Media preparation, Basic techniques of plant tissue culture and somatic
embryogenesis.
Practical 2: Restriction analysis of recombinant vector, Agrobacterium mediated
transformation: preparation of explants, co-cultivation of explants with
Agrobacterium tumefaciens.
Practical 3: Selection of transformed tissues and regeneration of transformed
tissues.
Practical 4: Isolation of genomic DNA from transgenic plants, PCR, Southern
hybridization analysis.
Practical 5: Over expression by floral dip transformation, Chloroplast transformation,
Transgene analysis, Gene silencing and targeting.
Practical 6: Molecular breeding- marker assisted selection

Methods in RNAi biology

RGC 413 4
Practical 1: Designing of shRNA and siRNA
Practical 2: siRNA and shRNA mediated knockdown of genes in plant/animals cells
mediated cells by retroviral or lentiviral delivery
Practical 3: Preparation of RNAi libraries and screening
Practical 4: Functional assays of microRNA mediated gene regulation
Practical 5: Designing and use of TALEN/ZFN/Cre-Lox mediated gene editing tool
Practical 6: Use of CRISPR/Cas9 mechanism as a gene-editing tool.
 25

Methods in genetic engineering in animals

RGC 414 4
Practical 1: Gene cloning
Practical 2: Transfection in ES cells for generating knockdown of genes
Practical 3: Genotyping Analysis in Human
Practical 4: Expression of induced genes
Practical 5: Microinjection techniques
Practical 6: Embryo transfer

Total Credits 22

PRESCRIBED READING

RGC 408 Genetic Engineering: Techniques, Models and Applications

1. Nicholl. (2006), Introduction to Genetic Engineering - Cambridge Low Price
Edition.
2. Primrose S.B. and Twyman R.M., (2008) Principles of gene manipulation and
Genomics, Blackwell Scientific Publications.
3. Benjamin Lewis (2008) Genes IX - Oxford University & Cell Press.
4. Curell BR et al., (2004) Techniques for Engineering Genes.
5. Tagu D &Moussard C, (2006) Techniques for Molecular Biolog, INRA
6. Brown TA , (2006) Gene Cloning and DNA Analysis ; 5th Ed
7. Reece RJ, (2004) Analysis of Genes and Genomes ; Wiley
8. Kreuzer H and Massey A, (2006) Recombinant DNA and Biotechnology, ASM;
2nd Ed
9. Korf BR, (2007) Human Genetics and Genomics; 3rd Ed ; Blackwell

RGC 409 Plant Genetic Engineering

1. Kung, S. D., & Wu, R. (2012). Transgenic plants: engineering and utilization.
Academic Press.
2. Stewart Jr, C. N. (2016). Plant biotechnology and genetics: principles, techniques,
and applications. John Wiley & Sons.
3. Smith, R. H. (2012). Plant tissue culture: techniques and experiments. Academic
Press.
4. Chrispeels, M. J., &Sadava, D. E. (2003). Plants, genes, and crop biotechnology.
Jones & Bartlett Learning.

RGC 410 RNAi- Biology and applications

1.TGesteland et al., (2006) The RNA World TEds. CSHL Press
2. Fire et. Al., (2005)RNA Interference Technology: From Basic Science to Drug
Development. Cambridge University Press.
3. Gregory J. Hannon (2003) RNAi: A Guide to Gene Silencing. CSHL Press.
4. Gordon G. Carmichael (2005) RNA Silencing: Methods and Protocols CSHL Press.
5. Ute Schepers, (2006) RNA Interference in Practice, Wiley-VCH GmbH & Co. KGaA.

RGC 411 Genetic engineering in animals

1. Strickberger MW (2004) Genetics, - Garland
2. Riddle DL, Blumenthal T, Meyer BJ, Priess JR (1997) C. elegans II,– Cold Spring
Harbor Press
3. Jackson IJ and Abott CM (1999) Mouse Genetics and Transgenics: A Practical
 26

Approach,– Oxford
4. Freshney IR (2010) Culture of Animal Cells: A manual of basic techniques and
specialized applications, Wiley-Blackwell
5. Stephenson F. H. (2016) Calculations for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology:
Academic Press

STREAM 3: MOLECULAR DIAGNOSTICS &

DNA PROFILING

SEMESTER III
ONE CREDIT = 12 TEACHING HOURS
CODE COURSE CREDIT (S)
RGC 415 Molecular Diagnostics 2
This course overviews the basic principles of molecular diagnostics and
applications of the emerging technologies. Students learn about the clinical
applications of molecular diagnostic in patients with infectious disease.

Unit I: Introduction to Diagnostics

Introduction and History of diagnostics of diseases, mode of infection, types of
infectious diseases, philosophy and general approach to clinical specimens.

Unit II: Traditional disease diagnosis methods

Diagnosis of infectious diseases caused by bacteria, fungi, viruses, protozoa
and Helminthes.

Unit III: Molecular Techniques for diagnosis

Disease identification and Genetic tests of disorders; Population screening for genetic
disorders; Treatment and management of genetic disorders.

Unit IV: Biochemical tests

Detection and quantification of biochemical parameters.

Unit V:Applications of PCR-based microbial typing

PCR based microbial typing; Culture independent analysis of bacteria;
Molecular diagnosis of fungal pathogens; RAPD for animal and plants.

Unit VI: Immunoassays

Types [RIA, ELISA, Chemiluminescent IA, FIA] and specific applications;
Immunohistochemistry – principle and techniques. Different Levels of
Biosafety, Containment.
RGC 416 Cytogenetic and Genetic Disorders 2
In this course, inheritance patterns in human genetic diseases along with the
role of traditional, conventional and futuristic diagnostic techniques in screening
for genetic diseases will be covered in these units.

Unit I: Medical Genetics

Human genome Project, Genome Organization, Genome Annotations and
databases, Identifying human disease genes. Genetic markers for diseases
 27

(microsatellites, SNPs), Pharmacogenomics, Ecogenomics, Metabolomics,

Teratogenetics. Mapping and identification of disease genes (linkage analysis,
LOD score, association study) SNPs in diagnostics, Genome wide association
studies, Whole genome sequencing, exome sequencing.

Unit II: Human Cytogenetics

Cell division, Techniques of chromosome analysis; Karyotyping; Meiotic
chromosomes; Chromosomal abnormalities in cancer. Non-disjunction and
associated disorders, Aneuploidy, Chromosome structural abnormalities, X
inactivation, Mosaicism, Chimeras.

Unit III: Genetic disorders

Cystic Fibrosis and Sex – linked inherited disorders; Dominant and recessive
mutations, Mutagenesis, Autosomal disorders, Genomic imprinting, Neonatal
and Prenatal disease diagnostics. Gender identification; Analysis of
mitochondrial DNA for maternal inheritance. Molecular diagnosis for early, Stem
cells and cord blood banking, Treatment advances for genetic disorders, Ethical
issues, Genetic counseling.
RGC 417 Forensic Biology and Molecular Forensics 4
The objective of this course is to introduce the student to Forensic Biology, its
history, its methods and the application to both human and non‐human DNA
typing techniques and instrumentation.

Unit I: Biological evidence

Nature and importance, hair and fibres, types, identification, collection,
preservation; significance of biological evidence.

Unit II: Microbial Forensics & Entomology

Organisms of Forensic significance, types, isolation and identification of
different microbial strains using conventional and molecular methods;
Introduction to forensic Entomology, insects/invertebrates of forensic
importance, collection of entomological evidence, their life cycle, the role of
aquatic insects in forensics.

Unit III: Forensic Botany

Importance of biological evidences such as pollen grains, leaves, fruits, seeds,
wood, etc; types, significance and collection of evidence, identification and
comparison. methods of Forensic Botany: Importance of biological evidences
such as pollen grains, leaves, fruits, seeds, wood, etc; types, significance and
collection of evidence, identification and comparison. Diatoms– types,
morphology, methods of isolation from tissue and organs, identification and
forensic significance.

Unit IV: Forensic Serology

Identification, study of various body fluids such as semen, perspiration, blood,
saliva, urine, and fecal matter, classification and their relationship to a crime
scene.; blood group systems, history, biochemistry and genetics of ABO, Rh,
MN and other blood group systems; rare blood groups, methods of blood
grouping, DNA typing for identification, ELISA, PCR, Sequencing

Unit V: Wildlife Forensics

Animal poaching, wildlife trading, protection of endangered animals; wildlife
protection act; morphological and molecular identification of wildlife materials
like hair, skin, fur, bones, nail, teeth, etc; Indian scenario
 28

Unit VI: DNA Forensics

Allele frequency determination, match probability- database; Forensic
Significance of DNA profiling, applications in disputed paternity cases, child
swapping, missing person’s identity; legal standards for admissibility of DNA
profiling; DNA profiling in India and abroad; SNPs, cf DNA and limitations of
DNA profiling, mitochondrial DNA, STR analysis
RGC 418 DNA Bar-coding 2
This course focuses on the introduction to DNA Barcoding that will provide
students with a basic understanding of DNA-based approaches for species
identification and discovery. Students will have the opportunity to explore the
historical framework for species identification. The fields of taxonomy, ecology,
and evolution will be explored.

Unit I: Evolution.
Basics, Darwin’s evidence and mechanism of evolution, geological succession,
natural selection, adaptation, evolutionary genetics, Hardy-Weinberg;
recombination; gene duplication, genetic drift, migration, selection, mutation,
gene flow, speciation, DNA barcoding and its relevance from an evolutionary
perspective.

Unit II: Molecular taxonomy.

Molecular taxonomy; phylogenetic trees; Delimitation and identification of taxa;
Molecular data, Integrated Taxonomy Cryptic, and Nominal Species, Type
Specimens.

Unit III: Biodiversity.

Introduction to the concept of biodiversity: definition, qualitative and quantitative
assessment. Biodiversity in the world’s megatrends: threats identification.
Management, conservation, preservation as approaches to biodiversity.
Biodiversity indicators, sustainable management, DNA barcoding in ecology
and conservation biology.

Unit IV: DNA Barcoding.

Introduction, history, conventional morphological identification against molecular
identification using DNA barcode,Metabarcoding, DNA sequencing, DNA
barcode regions in plants, animals and microbes, sequence variations, data
analysis, phylogenetic tree, character-based tree, haplotype, network; use in
conservation and forensics, BLAST, BOLD, I Barcode, Applied DNA barcoding,
Next generation sequencing.
RGC 419 Methods in Nucleic Acid and Protein based Diagnostics 4
Practical 1: Hormone assay for thyroid (TSH, T3,T4) and Sexual disorders
(testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, estradiol, FSH, LH by RIA)
Practical 2: Isolation of Genomic DNA
Practical 3: Nucleic acid labeling and Southern Hybridization
Practical 4: Automated DNA sequencing (Demo)
Practical 5: RNA isolation, Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis, PAGE
Practical 6: PCR based diagnosis of human and plant bacterial pathogen
Practical 7: Culture independent analysis of microbes
Practical 8: Molecular diagnosis of parasitic disease
Practical 9: Amplification of Short Tandem Repeats, Multiplex STRPCR, SSCP
analysis.
Practical 10: Bioinformatic tools for genome, proteome analysis.
RGC 420 Methods in Genetics and Cytology 4
Practical 1: Metaphase chromosome preparations
Practical 2: Karyotype by Q-bandingand G-banding
 29

Practical 3: Fluorescence in-situ Hybridization (FISH)

Practical 4: Micronucleus assay
Practical 5: Sister Chromatid Exchange (SCE)
Practical 6: Study of Chromosomal Aberrations
Practical 7: Meiotic Chromosome preparations
Practical 8: Immunological methods- Agglutination (ABO/Bacterial),
Precipitation, Immunodiffusion,Immunoelectrophoresis.
Practical 9: Checking of BRCA gene polymorphism for susceptibility tocancer
Practical 10: Human identification and paternity determination (simulated) by
VNTRProbes
Practical 11: Mutation detection methods.
RGC 421 Methods in Forensics 4
Practical 1: Microscopic examination of pollen grains
Practical 2: Microscopic examination and morphological and molecular
identification of diatoms
Practical 3: ABO blood grouping
Practical 4: DNA Extraction from biological samples
Practical 5: PCR Amplification of DNA samples, Agarose gel electrophoresis of
PCR products.
Practical 6: Capillary Electrophoresis using genetic analyzer
Practical 7: Mitochondrial DNA sequencing
Practical 8: Autosomal STR DNA Typing
Practical 9: Y and X-chromosomal STR DNA typing
Practical 10: Parentage testing
Practical 11: STR data analysis using Gene Mapper IDX software
Practical 12: Protein-based forensics using single amino acid polymorphisms,
genetically variant peptide, ELISA.
Total Credits 22

PRESCRIBED READING

RGC 415 Molecular Diagnostics

1. Wegner, R. D. (Ed.). (2013). Diagnostic cytogenetics.Springer Science & Business
Media.
2. Carl A. Burtis, Edward R. Ashwood and David E. Bruns (eds) (2007): TietzTextbook of
Clinical Chemistry and Molecular Diagnosis (5th edition). Elsevier
3. McPherson, R. A., &Pincus, M. R. (2017). Henry's Clinical Diagnosis and Management by
Laboratory Methods E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
4. Coleman, W. B., &Tsongalis, G. J. (Eds.). (2006). Molecular diagnostics: for the clinical
laboratorian. Springer Science & Business Media.
5. Leonard, D. G., Bagg, A., Caliendo, A. M., Deerlin, V. M., &Kaul, K. L. (Eds.).
(2007). Molecular pathology in clinical practice (pp. 411-424). Springer.
RGC 416 Cytogenetic and Genetic Disorders
1. Wegner, R. D. (Ed.). (2013). Diagnostic cytogenetics. Springer Science & Business
Media.
2. Burtis, C. A., Ashwood, E. R. &Bruns, D. E. (eds) (2007): TietzTextbook of Clinical
Chemistry and Molecular Diagnosis (5th edition). Elsevier
3. Gersen, S. &Beagle, M. (2015).The principles of Clinical Cytogenetics.Springer.
4. Brooker, R. (2012).Genetics Analysis and Principles. McGraw Hill
5. Speicher, M., Antonarakis, S.E., Motulsky, G. (2010). Voegl and Motulsky’s Human
Genetics Problems and approaches (4thed). Springer.
RGC 417 Forensic Biology and Molecular Forensics
1. Li, R. (2015). Forensic biology. CRC Press.
2. Budowle, B., Murch, R., &Chakraborty, R. (2005). Microbial forensics: the next forensic
 30

challenge. International journal of legal medicine, 119(6), 317-330.

3. Coyle, H. M. (2004). Forensic botany: principles and applications to criminal casework.
CRC Press.
4. Shewale, J. G., & Liu, R. H. (Eds.). (2013). Forensic DNA Analysis: Current Practices
and Emerging Technologies. CRC Press.
5. Butler, J. M. (2005). Forensic DNA typing: biology, technology, and genetics of STR
markers. Elsevier.
6. Epplen, J., &Lubjuhnn, T. (Eds.). (2012). DNA profiling and DNA fingerprinting.
Springer Science & Business Media.
7. McClintock, J. T. (2008). Forensic DNA analysis: a laboratory manual. CRC Press.
8. Huffman, J. E., & Wallace, J. R. (2012). Wildlife forensics: methods and
applications (Vol. 6). John Wiley & Sons.
9. John Butler(2014). Advanced Topics inForensic DNA typing: Interpretation. Elsevier.
RGC 418 DNA Bar-coding
1. Baum, D. A., & Smith, S. D. (2013). Tree thinking: an introduction to phylogenetic biology.
Greenwood Village, CO: Roberts.
2. Judd, W. S., Campbell, C. S., Kellogg, E. A., Stevens, P. F., & Donoghue, M. J.
(2002). Plant systematics. Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA: Sinauer.
3. Moritz, C., & Cicero, C. (2004). DNA barcoding: promise and pitfalls. PLoS biology, 2(10),
e354.
4. Lopez, I. & Erickson, D. L (2012). DNA Barcodes: Methods and Protocols. Humana
Press.
5. Wheeler, Q.D. (2008). The New Taxonomy. CRC Press.

SEMESTER IV

RGC 422 Dissertation 22

As a primer to building a career in biotechnology research, the
student will choose a small lab project in consultation with the
supervisor, learn and master the relevant research techniques,
conduct experiments and collect data that may be collated in the
form of a dissertation.