Students
MOLS7611 – Molecular and Medical Biotechnology
2020 – Session 2, Weekday attendance, North Ryde
Notice
As part of Phase 3 of our return to campus plan, most units will now run tutorials, seminars and other small group learning activities on campus for the second half-year, while keeping an online version available for those students unable to return or those who choose to continue their studies online.
To check the availability of face to face activities for your unit, please go to timetable viewer. To check detailed information on unit assessments visit your unit's iLearn space or consult your unit convenor.
General Information
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| Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Morten Andersen
Associate convener
Angela Sun
Associate convener
Liisa Kautto
|
|---|---|
| Credit points |
Credit points
10
|
| Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
Admission to MRes
|
| Corequisites |
Corequisites
|
| Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
MOLS8611
|
| Unit description |
Unit description
The unit explores particular areas of contemporary molecular and medical biotechnology building on students' existing knowledge and importantly, showing how science is translated to applications in health, industry and the environment. Lecture topics range from the production of recombinant biomolecules in various cell factories and their industrial and medical applications to nanobiotechnology and stem cells. Instrumentation and technology supporting biotechnology will be introduced and discussed. Visiting lecturers from various academic disciplines will lead discussion on their areas of expertise. The unit also has a significant hands-on laboratory component with tutorials and assignment tasks. |
Important Academic Dates
Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- ULO1: Demonstrate an understanding of key concepts of biotechnology, its interdisciplinary nature and impact on modern society.
- ULO2: Demonstrate good practical laboratory skills involving the use of contemporary experimental techniques in biotechnology including microbial culture, and production and characterisation of recombinant glycoproteins of therapeutic value.
- ULO3: Relate information published in the scientific literature to practical research questions in biotechnology.
- ULO4: Explain and interpret results from the laboratory experiments carried out during the practicals reflecting published literature and relevant technical and theoretical concepts.
- ULO5: Critique and communicate complex biotechnology topics in writing and orally and practice the ability to form opinions on the safety and ethics issues related to gene editing in our society.
- ULO6: Engage in curiosity-driven learning activities and critically evaluate the work of others.
Assessment Tasks
| Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Final Examination | 40% | No | TBA |
| Report 3 | 12% | No | TBA |
| Report 1 | 15% | No | TBA |
| Report 2 | 8% | No | TBA |
| Hot topic essay | 10% | No | TBA |
| Primer crafting task | 5% | No | TBA |
| The Great Debate | 5% | No | TBA |
| Continuing assessment | 5% | No | TBA |
Final Examination
Assessment Type 1: Examination
Indicative Time on Task 2: 14 hours
Due: TBA
Weighting: 40%
The final examination will be 3 hours plus 10 min reading time. The examination will cover all sections of the unit including lecture material, tutorials and practicals and consists of short answers, case studies, problem solving tasks and essay questions.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of key concepts of biotechnology, its interdisciplinary nature and impact on modern society.
- Relate information published in the scientific literature to practical research questions in biotechnology.
- Explain and interpret results from the laboratory experiments carried out during the practicals reflecting published literature and relevant technical and theoretical concepts.
- Critique and communicate complex biotechnology topics in writing and orally and practice the ability to form opinions on the safety and ethics issues related to gene editing in our society.
Report 3
Assessment Type 1: Lab report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: TBA
Weighting: 12%
Written report on Practical 3.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of key concepts of biotechnology, its interdisciplinary nature and impact on modern society.
- Demonstrate good practical laboratory skills involving the use of contemporary experimental techniques in biotechnology including microbial culture, and production and characterisation of recombinant glycoproteins of therapeutic value.
- Relate information published in the scientific literature to practical research questions in biotechnology.
- Explain and interpret results from the laboratory experiments carried out during the practicals reflecting published literature and relevant technical and theoretical concepts.
Report 1
Assessment Type 1: Lab report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: TBA
Weighting: 15%
The written report on Practical 1 work will introduce students to report writing and provide early feedback on the skills and style in report writing and extracting relevant information from various paper and electronic sources.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of key concepts of biotechnology, its interdisciplinary nature and impact on modern society.
- Demonstrate good practical laboratory skills involving the use of contemporary experimental techniques in biotechnology including microbial culture, and production and characterisation of recombinant glycoproteins of therapeutic value.
- Relate information published in the scientific literature to practical research questions in biotechnology.
- Explain and interpret results from the laboratory experiments carried out during the practicals reflecting published literature and relevant technical and theoretical concepts.
Report 2
Assessment Type 1: Lab report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 8 hours
Due: TBA
Weighting: 8%
Report 2 is based on the experiments conducted in Practical 2. Students are expected to take into account the feedback from report 1 to improve their performance in report 2 and produce an executive summary linking together Practicals 1 and 2, as part of the report.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of key concepts of biotechnology, its interdisciplinary nature and impact on modern society.
- Demonstrate good practical laboratory skills involving the use of contemporary experimental techniques in biotechnology including microbial culture, and production and characterisation of recombinant glycoproteins of therapeutic value.
- Relate information published in the scientific literature to practical research questions in biotechnology.
- Explain and interpret results from the laboratory experiments carried out during the practicals reflecting published literature and relevant technical and theoretical concepts.
- Critique and communicate complex biotechnology topics in writing and orally and practice the ability to form opinions on the safety and ethics issues related to gene editing in our society.
- Engage in curiosity-driven learning activities and critically evaluate the work of others.
Hot topic essay
Assessment Type 1: Essay
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: TBA
Weighting: 10%
This essay will be written in the “Times magazine style”, i.e. to a broader audience. Your task is to engage the reader and present your point of view.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of key concepts of biotechnology, its interdisciplinary nature and impact on modern society.
- Explain and interpret results from the laboratory experiments carried out during the practicals reflecting published literature and relevant technical and theoretical concepts.
- Critique and communicate complex biotechnology topics in writing and orally and practice the ability to form opinions on the safety and ethics issues related to gene editing in our society.
- Engage in curiosity-driven learning activities and critically evaluate the work of others.
Primer crafting task
Assessment Type 1: Design Task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 6 hours
Due: TBA
Weighting: 5%
You will learn how to turn a peptide sequence to a DNA sequence and design oligonucleotide primers for various purposes in the laboratory such as “catching” a gene and DNA sequencing.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Demonstrate good practical laboratory skills involving the use of contemporary experimental techniques in biotechnology including microbial culture, and production and characterisation of recombinant glycoproteins of therapeutic value.
- Relate information published in the scientific literature to practical research questions in biotechnology.
- Explain and interpret results from the laboratory experiments carried out during the practicals reflecting published literature and relevant technical and theoretical concepts.
- Critique and communicate complex biotechnology topics in writing and orally and practice the ability to form opinions on the safety and ethics issues related to gene editing in our society.
- Engage in curiosity-driven learning activities and critically evaluate the work of others.
The Great Debate
Assessment Type 1: Debate
Indicative Time on Task 2: 5 hours
Due: TBA
Weighting: 5%
The students will be divided into groups who will be given a topic in the area of biotechnology which they either have to defend or oppose.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of key concepts of biotechnology, its interdisciplinary nature and impact on modern society.
- Critique and communicate complex biotechnology topics in writing and orally and practice the ability to form opinions on the safety and ethics issues related to gene editing in our society.
Continuing assessment
Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 12 hours
Due: TBA
Weighting: 5%
Continuing assessment involves providing a brief answer to a weekly question appearing on iLearn each week.
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of key concepts of biotechnology, its interdisciplinary nature and impact on modern society.
- Relate information published in the scientific literature to practical research questions in biotechnology.
- Explain and interpret results from the laboratory experiments carried out during the practicals reflecting published literature and relevant technical and theoretical concepts.
- Critique and communicate complex biotechnology topics in writing and orally and practice the ability to form opinions on the safety and ethics issues related to gene editing in our society.
- Engage in curiosity-driven learning activities and critically evaluate the work of others.
1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:
- the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
- the Writing Centre for academic skills support.
2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation
Delivery and Resources
Lectures: All via Zoom (see unit iLearn site for details)
Practicals and tutorials: All on campus (see unit iLearn site for details)
All communication and resources are delivered via the unit iLearn site
Policies and Procedures
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
- Academic Appeals Policy
- Academic Integrity Policy
- Academic Progression Policy
- Assessment Policy
- Fitness to Practice Procedure
- Grade Appeal Policy
- Complaint Management Procedure for Students and Members of the Public
- Special Consideration Policy (Note: The Special Consideration Policy is effective from 4 December 2017 and replaces the Disruption to Studies Policy.)
Students seeking more policy resources can visit the Student Policy Gateway (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/student-policy-gateway). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.
If you would like to see all the policies relevant to Learning and Teaching visit Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central).
Student Code of Conduct
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/getting-started/student-conduct
Results
Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au
Student Support
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to help you improve your marks and take control of your study.
The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources.
Student Services and Support
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
Student Enquiries
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
If you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au
IT Help
For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/.
When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.