Lab Skills: Genetics

Full course description

The aim of this course is to introduce students to the basic principles and techniques in genetics, to develop basic competences in the planning and performance of experiments and the evaluation of results, as well as writing reports. The course consists of 6 sessions of approx. 4 hours and covers topics such as DNA  and RNA isolation/purification, spectrophotometry for nucleic acid quantification, amplification of specific genetic regions, gel electrophoresis  and basic bioinformatics (commonly used databases,  finding the genetic location of a specific gene and its gene sequences, design amplification primers for a specific genetic region, etc) using online available tools. The emphasis will be on genetic variation, which is relevant for human clinical diagnostic setting, evolution studies, etc. Furthermore, this course provides basic knowledge on Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and Laboratory Safety Regulations. Besides the 4 hours hands-on time in the lab, each session requires  1-2 hrs of preparation beforehand and 1-2 hrs for reporting afterwards. Students will work in pairs. Lab experience is not required, although biological and chemical background knowledge at secondary school level is recommendable for full understanding of the provided techniques. If necessary, in the first lab session, pipetting skills will be trained.