SUBJECT
Transgenic Organisms: GMOs, Gene Therapy, Knockout, Live Imaging
lecture
master
2
Semesters 1-4
Autumn/Spring semester
1. week - Introduction: definitions, types and uses of transgenic systems.Basic methods in transgenesis, such as recombinant DNA techniques.
2. week - Genome projects and benefits. Ethical issues. Historical overview.
3. week - Microbial biotechnology. The living cell as a bioreactor. PGPR bacteria, mycorrhiza projects, bioinsecticides. Plant biotechnology. Generation of GM plants to enhance biotic/abiotic stress tolerance, modify development and metabolism (terminator technology, Golden Rice, edible vaccine).
4. week - Animal biotechnology. Generation of transgenic animals (microinjections, GM ES cell chimaeres, cloning). Major applications: production of therapeutic proteins in milk, xenotransplantation.
5. week - Transgenic methods in therapy. Diagnostic applications, recombinant drugs, gene therapy, GM stem cell therapy.
6. week - Transgenic methods in research. Mutant rescue, ecopic and overexpression, transpozon mutagenesis (eg. enhancer trapping). The uses of fusion proteins such as GFP.
7. week - Transgenic methods in yeast and worm research. Genome-wide knockout, knockdown, and GFP-fusion libraries. Colocalisation projects.
8. week - Transgenic methods in Drosophila research. Uses of the P element. The Gal4-UAS system. Somatic mutant and overexpression clones in mosaic analysis. Gene knockout and transgenic RNAi.
9. week - Cell culture. Transient and stable transfections, fusion proteins, dominant-negative and siRNA studies. Homologous recombination-based gene targeting (insertion or replacement knock-out, knock-in) in mouse embryonic stem cells.
10. week - KO and transgenic mouse models. Temporal/spatial control of gene expression and deletion (tet-on and tet-off systems, Cre-lox techniques). Genetic models of physiology and disease ("cells don't have blood pressure").
11. week - Transgenic and KO models of monogenic and complex human diseases, such as Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, cystic fibrosis, neurodegeneration and cardiovascular diseases, tumor formation etc.
12. week - Microscopy techniques. Imaging fluorescent molecules in live cells, time-lapse videos, FRAP, FLAP, FLIP, FRET, photoactivation.
13. week - Superresolution fluorescent microscopy. STED, STORM, 3D-SIM etc. systems.
14. week - Final written test.
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J. Tomiuk, K. Wöhrmann, Andreas Sentker: Transgenic Organisms, Birkhäuser, 2012
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Carl A. Pinkert: Transgenic Animal Technology, Newnes, 2014