LABMP 581 University of Alberta

Slide 1
The University of Alberta course Lab Medicine and Pathology 581 or LABMP 581, is offer once a year in the fall term to graduate student.
Eligible graduate student should have successfully completed genetics 270, biochemistry 200 and biochemistry 330.
Consent of the Department is required registration in the course.
Slide 2
The course has three main learning outcomes.
By the end of the course students should be able to describe the principles of common molecular biology research techniques.
They should be able to successfully perform common molecular biology techniques and they should be able to troubleshoot common problems encounter when performing these techniques.
Slide 3
LABMP 581 is a hands-on laboratory course which focuses on individual work.
Student will
• isolate nucleic acids
• assessment of quantity and purity of nucleic acids
• perform both endpoint and quantitative PCR
• prepare complementary DNA from RNA
• clone PCR products into plasmids
• transfect eukaryotic cells
• isolate recombinant protein by immunoprecipitation and perform western blotting.
Slide 4
The course is structure around three experiments each of which runs over several lab session.
In experiment one we clone a PCR product into the plasmid pUC19.
The figure on this slide outlines the procedures performed in experiment one.
In experiment two we isolate RNA from tissue culture cells create complementary DNA and clone into a eukaryotic expression vector.
In experiment three we transfect eukaryotic cells with the plasmid created in experiment 2.
The transfected cells produce a recombinant protein which we then isolated by immunoprecipitation and detect by western blotting.
Slide 5
The University catalogue list the course time commitment as one hour a week for lecture and five hours a week for lab. There is, actually, six hours of lab per week as well as the one-hour lecture, subsequently the total time commitment is seven hours a week.
The lecture is scheduled on Mondays from 1300 to 1400.
The labs are scheduled on Mondays and Tuesday from 1400 to 1700.
To make the best use of our time, on most Mondays we will start in the lab and the lecture is held during incubation periods.
Students who are is well organized and prepared usually completed their lab work before 1700.
The labs build on one another, subsequently attendance to all labs is required.
Slide 6
There are five components to the course grade
Lab reports, assignments, a midterm exam a final exam and an oral presentation.
There are three lab reports. Each completed lab report worth 2% towards your final grade.
Report consist of experimental observations, analysis and theoretical questions.
There are three assignments each worth 10% of the final course grade.
Assignments require the students to apply what they have learned to create cloning protocols and to solve technical problems.
The midterm exam is worth 24% and the final exam is worth 35%.
The exams are a combination of short answer and multiple-choice questions.
Finally, students are also required to give a 20-minutes presentation on a molecular biology technique from a published paper.
The presentation is graded by a panel according to a rubric. This activity is worth 5% of the final grade.
Slide 7
The determination of letter grades is done at the division level.
All student grades are anonymously plotted onto a graph.
Natural breakpoints between grades are identified.
Historically, grades greater than 90% have been deemed an A+ and grades between 80 to 90% are given an A or an A minus.
B are typically assigned to students with a final course mark of 70 to 79% and Cs are usually assigned to grades that fall between 60 and 69%.
Slide 8
If you wish to enroll in this course or you would like more information. Please email Dr. Karen Matejka.