Biomolecular Experiment Planning

Student can choose to attend this course at the first or at the second year (II semester).

As the skills acquired with this course are useful for the experimental internship activities, students are warmly recommended to attend the course in the first year.

Lesson attendance is strongly encouraged since the single lessons are strictly connected with the previous ones.

It should be noted that the learning objectives, the expected learning outcomes and the program of this course ("Biomolecular experiment planning") are different from those described for "Experimental planning and biostatistics in biotechnology".

Analytical and preparative methodologies. Differences between analytical and preparative modes of a methodology and their role in an experimental approach. Experimental approach as a proper and sequential combination of different methodologies. Identification of the experimental aim and the effect on the plan. The search of most informative experimental aims. Qualitative and quantitative data. The importance of control samples in the application of a methodology. Bottom-up experimental planning. The experimental aim as starting point in building up an experimental approach. Choice of the methodologies and the assessment of the critic points. The importance of the sample material. Experimental documentation. The tracking of the experiment data. Image densitometry analysis to generate qualitative and semi-quantitative data from electrophoretic and blotting analyses. Simple data elaboration and presentation (e.g. reiterated calculations, standard curve, inhibition curve). The above-mentioned points will be limited to the experimental approaches based on biomolecular methodologies (e.g.: chromatography methods, enzyme methods, immunochemical assays, colorimetric assays, inhibition assays, electrophoretic methods, blotting analyses, DNA manipulation methods, etc.), and most part of the program will be exposed with the help of real case studies.