Diploma in Experimental Biotechnology

Experience and immerse yourself in the exciting world of Experimental Biotechnology - the area of scientific study that has produced many food products, textiles, chemicals and biofuels that we use today. In this free online course, you will explore the fact that hybridoma cells contain spleen cells capable of coding an antibody whereas myeloma cells do not produce antibodies but have the ability to grow indefinitely. The fact that the antigen that is used for immunization should be as pure as possible which helps reduce the generation of cross-reactive antibodies will also be discussed. Learn all about the concepts of cytokines and chemokines, which are extracellular signaling molecules that mediate cell-to-cell communication. You will learn that the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique is based on the competitive binding of the primary antibody between the target antigen in a sample and the same antigen that is coated to the multi-well plate. You will discover that pixel densities on the developed X-ray film can be collected and analyzed using a transmission-mode scanner and image analysis software. 

The course begins by introducing you to immunology techniques and the interaction between antibodies and antigens. Then, the Direct Agglutination test which diagnoses antibodies against a large number of cellular antigens such as red blood cells (RBCs), bacteria and fungi, will be discussed. You will explore Radial Immunodiffusion, which is a quantitative immunodiffusion technique used to detect the concentration of antigens by measuring the diameter of the precipitin ring formed by the interaction of the antigen and the antibody at optimal concentration. You will discover the fact that the growth and multiplication of a host organism that is used as an expression system, requires suitable biochemical and biophysical conditions. It will be clarified that the term homogenizer, refers to a piece of laboratory or industrial equipment used for the homogenization of cells during the isolation of cell organelles. The content covered includes learning all about gating and that it refers to the section of only a certain population of cells available for analysis on a plot and this provides the ability to look at parameters that are only specific to that subset. You will be taught that, in an Epifluorescence Microscope, the illumination of the specimen, as well as the collection of the fluorescence light, is achieved by a single lens.

Next, you will learn that when conducting Immuno-localization studies, it is critical to start with the fixation step which stops the biological activity and the relative movement of cellular components and intracellular macromolecules. You will gain insight into “resolution” and that it is a term that refers to the minimum distance at which two distinct points of a specimen can still be seen and that the resolution of a microscope is linked to the numerical aperture as well as the wavelength of light that is used to examine a specimen. The course content goes on to analyze a Scanning Electron Microscope and that in this microscope, the secondary electrons that are produced by the specimen are detected to generate an image that contains the topological features of the specimen. The final bits of content in this Biotechnology course deals with the typical phagocytosis of a bead, which when it is represented by the appearance of beads in the phase data, the same bead will be circled by a blue fluorescence from the filipin. Lastly, you will study the important Polymerase Chain Reaction-, sequencing and blotting techniques, DNA amplification, and primer designing. 

Enrolling in this instructor-led video-based course, means you will be provided with demonstrations, problems, examples and assessment questions that are designed to deliver a comprehensive foundation, enabling you to take serious steps in your career in Experimental Biotechnology.