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Newcastle University is a world leader in Engineering Biology through Microbial Ecology. The purpose of this course is to get the latest generation of tools in molecular microbial ecology into the hands of engineers. Molecular microbial ecology has the power to revolutionise our ability to monitor and design microbial methods. Moreover the costs of the associated sequencing technology are dropping exponentially.
This course will give delegates an understanding of how the tools work, their advantages and disadvantages and, crucially, how they can be used in design and monitoring. The delegates will get hands on experience with classical molecular methods such as fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH), quantitative PCR (QPCR) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), and next generation sequencing technologies (454 sequencing) including crucial data de-noising and analysis.
At the end of the module delegates should be able to understand how conceptual background and basis for the tools and their applications in engineered biological systems for monitoring and design be they based in monitoring or design.
At the end of the module delegates should be able to: quantify specific microbial communities in treatment plants using FISH or QPCR, prepare and analyse a DGGE gel. They will be able to extract nucleic acid and despatch for 454 sequencing retrieve, denoise and analyse the results. The will be able to relate the results to operation and design based ecological theory.
This course is also delivered as a Module on at least one of the School's Masters programmes; delegates will attend with full and part time registered students. The Academic Module Outline is available via the University's Module Catalogue.