BIOTECH 7007 - Biotechnology in Practice
North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2024
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General Course Information
Course Details
Course Code BIOTECH 7007 Course Biotechnology in Practice Coordinating Unit Molec & Biomedical Science Term Semester 1 Level Postgraduate Coursework Location/s North Terrace Campus Units 3 Contact Up to 11 hours per week Available for Study Abroad and Exchange Y Assumed Knowledge Relevant undergraduate degree in Biology or Biotechnology, which include subjects in Biochemistry, Cell & Molecular Biology and/or Genetics. Previous laboratory experience in an undergraduate degree is desirable but not essential. Restrictions Available to Graduate Certificate in Biotechnology (Biomedical), Graduate Diploma in Biotechnology (Biomedical), Master of Biotechnology (Biomedical) and Master of Biotechnology (Biomedical) (Advanced) students only Assessment Workshop question sheets, tutorial presentation and practical Course Staff
Course Coordinator: Dr Antonio Focareta
Course Timetable
The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from .
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Learning Outcomes
Course Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this course students should be able to:
1.Understand and provide examples of commercial biotechnology related research and development.
2. Understand the nature of intellectual property, the importance and limitations of patents, the patenting process, patent infringement (freedom to operate), and IP management.
3. Understand the issues and processes involved in regulating genetically manipulated organisms and new pharmaceuticals.
4. Understand the essential information, skills and stages involved in the commercialisation of biotechnology research, including the principles of good laboratory practice (GMP), quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA), and apply these skills to the in-house production of a product identified for development.
5. Demonstrate an ability to collect, research and integrate information from different sources and present in both written and oral forms as a research and development plan, individually and r collaboratively as part of a team.
6. Understand and critically evaluate published literature.
University Graduate Attributes
This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:
University Graduate Attribute Course Learning Outcome(s) Attribute 7: Digital capabilities
Graduates are well prepared for living, learning and working in a digital society.
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Learning & Teaching Activities
Learning & Teaching Modes
Workshops are a series of interactive presentations, whereby articles provided in advance to students are discussed (flip classroom), with an emphasis on critical concepts and specific terminologies. The workshops will also include question sheets for assessment.
The workshops will allow students to experience the decision making processes a biotechnology company makes when delivering a new product to market (legal, production and costs).
Students are also required as part of their core course requirements to complete TECHCOMM 5016 Entrepreneurship & Innovation, which will complement the objectives of this subject.
Tutorials will require students to present as a group (groups of 2 or 3 depending on class size) a business proposal for a specific product. The tutorials rely on the workshop component material to enable the students to deliver a business plan, including the business model, revenue generation, competition, production costs, and freedom to operate.
Each tutorial session will be followed by discussion on the merits and perceived disadvantages of each business plan. The
“best” proposal chosen by students and staff will progress on to further development as part of the practical component of this course. A distribution model limited to the School of Biological Sciences will form part of the final business model used, i.e. the
product will be available to research groups and teaching classes.
Practicals will form part of the teaching component in the second half of the course. This component relies on the selection
process of a suitable product and the formulation of a comprehensive business plan. The final two workshops will be scheduled for this time (second half of the semester), to allow for this planning process.
The practical component is responsible for the small scale production of the “product”. Laboratory skills, time management, GLP, QA and QC all form a major part of this teaching mode. Students will learn the first hand the practicalities of laboratory based production of a commodity in the biotechnology sector, and reinforce the concepts covered in the workshops. For example, the difference and importance of the process orientated QA measures and product orientated QC procedures (testing) will be highlighted, and the necessity of GLP to produce a reliable and consistent product. Record keeping procedures in line with major accreditation agencies (such as NATA) will also form a major part of the whole process.
Workload
The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.
A student enrolled in a 3 unit course, such as this, should expect to spend, on average 12 hours per week on the studies
required. This includes both the formal contact time required to the course (e.g., lectures and practicals), as well as non-contact time (e.g., reading and revision).Learning Activities Summary
Workshops – A total of 8 workshops; each session 3 hours in length.
Topics covered include: Quality management (QA, QC, GLP) Workshop 1, intellectual property (patents), and developing
a business plan. The final two workshops will focus on processes for selection of a product, bringing the product to market, laboratory small scale production, storage & viability, and distribution. Case studies will be used to illustrate these concepts.
Topics covered include; quality management (QA, QC, GLP), intellectual property (patents), and developing a business plan. The final two workshops will focus on processes for selection of product, bringing the product to market, laboratory small scale production, storage & viability, and distribution. Case studies will be used to illustrate these concepts.
All workshops require prescribed reading prior to each session. The teaching activity comes from the interactive learning mode, whereby students will also be asked to participate in key decision making steps. Every second workshop will include a set of questions specific to the topic discussed, to be answered in small groups, within the allocated session. This will reinforce the critical concepts covered and assess their understanding.
Tutorials – A total of 8 tutorials, each session 2 hours in length.
Topics covered are directly related to the workshop content. Each tutorial session will be comprised of students (as part of a small group of 3), presenting a predetermined topic, i.e. quality management, intellectual property, and small scale laboratory production vs large scale commercial production (6 tutorials). Each student group will be given a starting reference for their topic.
The students will contribute to the learning environment by presenting their specific topics as part of a group, followed by question time. The staff member will act as a moderator, and ensure crucial areas have been presented and adequately addressed. Each tutorial session will conclude with a number of key decisions made on each topic, which relate to the final product choice. Due to the complexity of the quality management and intellectual property topics, each will be covered as part of two tutorials.
The final two tutorials will focus on a business plan/business model for the selected product, as determined by previous workshops and tutorials.
Practicals - There are a total of 8 practicals, each session 6 hours in length.
The first two practicals will focus on general laboratory skills and safety. This will also include the principles of quality control and quality assurance, with practical examples designed to demonstrate these principles.
For example, the use of competent bacterial cells is a common procedure in research laboratories, and these are often bought commercially as frozen cells. The quality assurance and quality control aspect of this type of product can be demonstrated by varying storage conditions of a series of competent cells and testing transformation efficiency. Full documentation of processes (e.g. strain validation, growth conditions, media used, batch numbers) and testing procedures (e.g. transformation efficiency, contamination) in line with accreditation agency requirements (such as NATA), will also form part of the quality management protocols.
The remaining 6 practical sessions will focus on preparation of the selected product for small scale manufacture in the laboratory.
For example; if competent cells are used as the product.
Practical sessions will include - choice of bacterial strain(s) for manufacture of competent cells (check for freedom to operate), verification of strain (genotyping by sequencing), optimisation of conditions for maximum transformation efficiency, achieving required standard (transformation efficiency),testing of storage conditions and maintenance of competence, product testing in selected research laboratories, evaluate feedback, release of final product.
Specific Course Requirements
Students are required to attend a 6 hour laboratory practical component each week throughout the semester, for a total of 12 weeks.
Students must attend at least 75%, i.e. 7 out of the 9 practical sessions. Attendance to each practical session is essential in achieving the main goals of this subject. It is not possible to provide additional assessment to replace the laboratory and problem solving skills, team work & co-operation, that are part of the laboratory component of the subject.
No additional practical times will be made available to students missing more than two practical sessions.
One field trip to the Thebarton Hi-Tech Precinct (Business Incubator) is scheduled for an afternoon (approximately 4 hours). -
Assessment
The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:
- Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
- Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
- Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
- Assessment must maintain academic standards.
Assessment Summary
Modified arrangements have been made to assessments to facilitate remote learning and teaching Assessment task Type of assessment Percentage of total assessment for grading
purposes
Hurdle
Yes
or NoOutcomes being assessed / achieved Approximate Timing of Assessment Workshop
question sheets (x4)Formative
& Summative
30%
(7.5%
for each question sheet)No 1,2,3,4 Weeks 2,4,5,7 Tutorial
PresentationFormative& Summative 20% No 1,2,3,4 Weeks
2- 8 (depending on who is
presenting)Practical
Reports (x2)Formative& Summative
50%
(25% for each report)No 1,2,3,4,5,6 Weeks
8, 10Assessment Detail
Modified arrangements have been made to assessments to facilitate remote learning and teaching
Workshop Question Sheets (total of 30%):
Students will complete a total of 4 On-line question sheets with the format of questions changed slightly to include problem solving questions. Students will have had prescribed reading prior to each session. Topics are designed to determine the level of understanding and reinforce critical concepts relevant to the subject matter. The start of each subsequent workshop will be used for formative feedback and addressing any shortcomings in understanding.
Tutorial Presentation (20%):
Groups comprising of 2 or 3 students (depending on class numbers) will be given a topic, with material which will follow on from the workshop themes. The group will be required to present an overview of the area, and include a case study to illustrate their main points (15 minutes per student, plus a final 15 minutes question for the group, i.e. 60 minutes in total for a group of 3).
Practicals – (total of 50% for lab reports):
Practicals – (45% for lab report, and 5% for lab performance, totla = 50%):
Groups comprising of 2 or 3 students (depending on class numbers) will work as practical partners for each session. Each group will be assessed on their performance in the laboratory, including attendance, setting & prioritising tasks, competence and laboratory skills (5%).
This grade is reflective of the total semester, and students not performing (non-attendance, non-engagement) will be notified at an early stage by staff.
The practical report will focus on the quality management aspects of the process, including appropriate methods and techniques. The report will also include data from laboratory experiments demonstrating these principles, along with critical evaluation of the data.
The report will have a 5,000 word limit, submitted as individual assignments (45%).
A format guide will be provided to students (groups) for both reports, as a marking guide, as well as rubrics detailing key assessment criteria.
Students taking this course remotely (off-shore) will have the 5% participation mark replaced with a written exercise focusing on principles of techniques.
Submission
For all Faculty courses except Level II and III SAVS courses
If an extension is not applied for, or not granted then a penalty for late submission will apply. A penalty of 10% of the value of the assignment for each calendar day that the assignment is late (i.e. weekends count as 2 days), up to a maximum of 50% of the available marks will be applied. This means that an assignment that is 5 days late or more without an approved extension can only receive a maximum of 50% of the marks available for that assignment.
Course Grading
Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:
M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme) Grade Mark Description FNS Fail No Submission F 1-49 Fail P 50-64 Pass C 65-74 Credit D 75-84 Distinction HD 85-100 High Distinction CN Continuing NFE No Formal Examination RP Result Pending Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.
Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.
Final results for this course will be made available through .
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Student Feedback
The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.
SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
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Student Support
- Academic Integrity for Students
- Academic Support with Maths
- Academic Support with writing and study skills
- Careers Services
- Library Services for Students
- LinkedIn Learning
- Student Life Counselling Support - Personal counselling for issues affecting study
- Students with a Disability - Alternative academic arrangements
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Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
- Academic Credit Arrangements Policy
- Academic Integrity Policy
- Academic Progress by Coursework Students Policy
- Assessment for Coursework Programs Policy
- Copyright Compliance Policy
- Coursework Academic Programs Policy
- Intellectual Property Policy
- IT Acceptable Use and Security Policy
- Modified Arrangements for Coursework Assessment Policy
- Reasonable Adjustments to Learning, Teaching & Assessment for Students with a Disability Policy
- Student Experience of Learning and Teaching Policy
- Student Grievance Resolution Process
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Fraud Awareness
Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student鈥檚 disciplinary procedures.
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