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Continuing Professional Development: MSc Programme Modules (London-based)

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY & RECOMBINANT DNA TECHNIQUES (3131)

ORGANISERS: Dr Martin C. Taylor, Dr Graham Clark

DATES: 9 January 2012 to 8 February 2012 (9:00am Monday to 12:30pm Wednesday)


AIM
To provide a basic understanding and practical experience of a range of reagents and methods that are the essential tools of the molecular biologist.


OBJECTIVES
By the end of this module students should be able to:

  1. demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the principles underpinning important techniques in molecular biology;
  2. demonstrate knowledge and understanding of some applications of these techniques in laboratory research on infectious diseases;
  3. demonstrate the ability to carry out basic laboratory experiments in molecular biology and interpret the results;
  4. demonstrate the ability to read, comprehend and assess the relevant scientific literature.


CONSTITUENCY
This module is intended for all students who require theoretical knowledge and practical experience of standard molecular biology techniques. It is expected that all students will have obtained a basic understanding of nucleic acids, gene expression and protein synthesis from having completed the formative assessment for the term 1 module Molecular Biology (3333), which is a prerequisite. This module’s content is coordinated with ‘Advanced Training in Molecular Biology’ (3158).


CONCEPTUAL OUTLINE
The timetable is broadly organised as follows. There will be a practical component that lasts for three weeks.  The techniques to be covered include PCR, DNA cloning, bacterial transformation, plasmid DNA purification, restriction digest analysis of DNA, DNA sequencing and sequence analysis.  Concurrent lecture topics will be closely linked to the practical work.  Following the practical section of the module published papers will be read and discussed to illustrate applications of the techniques covered.  Revision sessions are included to consolidate the theoretical aspects of the course


TEACHING STRATEGY
A range of teaching methods will be used including practicals, formal lectures and group work.  Approximately 40% of contact time is devoted to practicals, 20% to lectures, and the remainder to group work and revision sessions. Most of the practical and lecture teaching will be done by the module organisers to ensure coherence. There also will be several full and half days set aside for private study.


LEARNING TIME
The module is made up of 150 Notional Learning Hours – 35 hours contact time, 10 hours directed self-study, 51.5 hours self-directed learning, and 53.5 hours assessment, review and revision.


ASSESSMENT
There will be two components to the assessment:

  1. Practical results will be written up and assessed to evaluate understanding of the practical portion.
  2. A short answer written test will be held at the end of the module to evaluate literature comprehension.

The grades for each component will be equally weighted and combined to give an overall GPA; written feedback is given on both. Self assessment questions also accompany some lectures with the answers being discussed in the following class.


FEE
£1,600 including access to LSHTM library and learning resources, study materials and assessment.

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