Biotechnologies for innovation and sustainability of animal health and production

The aim of the course is to provide deep knowledge on pharmacology and toxicology, in particular about the applications of biotechnology in the pharmacological and toxicological research on new molecules.
The topics will be:
Research and development of new drugs (4 h)
Biotechnological production from eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells: insulin, growth hormone, growth factors (4 h)
Recombinant therapeutic proteins (4 h)
Synthetic oligonucleotides (2 h)
Pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics (4 h).

The course will mainly aim to describe: a) how the environmental changes can give the animal hosts increasing chances to be exposed to infectious stages of parasites, or negatively influence their immune phenotype through altered feeding status, and b) the environmental-friendly biotechnological solutions that can reduce parasite transmission and pharmacological resistance.
The topics will be:
Environmental-sensitive physiological and immunological parameters influencing the host-parasite relationship (2 h)
Effects of global changes on temporal and spatial variations of parasitic infections (4 h)
Biotechnological tools to manage the parasitological risks in the changing ecosystems (6 h)

With diminishing availability of farming land, climatic changes and the threat of declining water resources, the task is to meet the growing demand for food, feed, fibre, fuel, and industrial products using less resources. This latter aspect will reduce use and redisposition of resources - in other words, 'Do more with less!'. Biotechnologies can help in these direction. Direct application of biotech innovations like GM food animals, or the use of biotech innovation in novel feed/food evaluation, are all exhaustive examples.
The main aim of the course are therefore i) to address the main biotechnologies that has an impact on the environment in the field of food producing animals; ii) show their application in novel feed and food evaluation (insect and ex-food); iii) to address the basic principles of sustainability and LCA

Lesson will be focused on:
Role and potential of biotechnologies in limiting feed production environmental impact (4h)
Innovative approaches in upgrading low value organic food waste streams (2h)
Biotechnologies in sustainable and innovative feed ingredients evaluation
-the case of insect materials (3h)
-the case ex-food (3h).
Potential role of biotechnologies in water saving in livestock (2h)
Sustainability assessment and LCA interpretation (4h).