Všechny kurzy

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is the carrier of genetic information in each organism. Genetic engineering, the specific and directed alteration of an organism´s hereditary material, have changed modern biology and biotechnology. There are thousands applications of using of bacteria, yeasts or insect cells of the production of recombinant proteins and various chemical compounds, many of them on the industrial scale. Transgenic crops conferring e.g. herbicide and pest resistance are another successful example of genetic engineering and new crop cultivars with modified nutritional value are just entering the market. Producing of transgenic animals for food industry is still a controversial issue but transgenic salmon has been recently approved for commercial growing. Protein engineering, a specific part of genetic engineering, is the process of developing useful or valuable proteins. It is a young discipline, with much research currently taking place into the understanding of protein folding and protein recognition for protein design principles. Both rational protein design and directed evolution techniques based on random mutagenesis are employed to generate molecules with novel properties. The course focuses on the molecular and genetic tools used to analyze and modify genetic material and to modify organisms to produce desired molecules and proteins. Topics will include sequencing techniques, cloning vectors and hosts, directed mutagenesis, and the manipulation of expression (and its levels) of particular gene products. Special attention will be directed to study biological systems utilized for the large scale production of recombinant autologous or heterologous proteins, focusing on advantages and disadvantages of each system, to allows students to evaluate and solve problems related to the expression of recombinant proteins. Furthermore, during the course, the major applications of genetic engineering in health care, forensics and agriculture will be presented. Historical overview will help students to understand present day technologies. Lectures on protein engineering will focus on preparation of gene libraries, selection of new proteins by display systems (phage, cell and cell-free) and applications (enzymes, antibodies). Students will also learn how to express and purify proteins using available techniques.