Short description:

Provides the basic laboratory skills and knowledge to pursue a career in biotechnology. Building skills through an organized and systematic presentation of materials, procedures, and tasks, it explores overarching themes that relate to all workplaces including forensic, clinical, quality control, environmental, and other testing laboratories.

Long description:

Provides the basic laboratory skills and knowledge to pursue a career in biotechnology. Written by four biotechnology instructors with over 20 years of teaching experience, it incorporates instruction, exercises, and laboratory activities that the authors have been using and perfecting for years. These exercises and activities help students understand the fundamentals of working in a biotechnology laboratory. Building skills through an organized and systematic presentation of materials, procedures, and tasks, the manual explores overarching themes that relate to all biotechnology workplaces including forensic, clinical, quality control, environmental, and other testing laboratories.

Features:

• Provides clear instructions and step-by-step exercises to make learning the material easier for students (There are Lab Notes for Instructors in the Support Material (see tab below)


• Emphasizes fundamental laboratory skills that prepare students for the industry


• Builds students? skills through an organized and systematic presentation of materials, procedures, and tasks


• Updates reflect recent innovations and regulatory requirements to ensure students stay up to date


• Supplies skills suitable for careers in forensic, clinical, quality control, environmental, and other testing laboratories

This hefty, 1,171-page, paperback book is worth its weight in gold. What a fantastic reference for the various aspects of biotechnology. I loved the emphasis on the "relationship between proper fundamental practices and reproducibility," and the authors' steadfast commitment to providing a "solid grounding in basic, quality practices" essential for success in biotechnology.

The sheer size and comprehensiveness of this book reinforces their introductory statement, "..'biotechnology' is not a synonym for 'molecular biology.'" Pretty much every possible test method used in a biotechnology setting (e.g., cell culture, chromatography, immunoassay) and their essential quality components (e.g., measurements such as weight and temperature; and solutions - love the declarative statement for section 24.1.1.2: "water is not pure") are described in great detail. Case studies accompany each chapter for the learners to test their retention and understanding. A nice inclusion is the section on regulatory affairs for learners to appreciate the challenges of bringing a biotechnology product to the consumer.

This is a fabulous textbook. If you work in biotechnology, this should be on every workbench and administrative office (e.g., supervisors, regulatory, quality assurance) for easy reference and, most importantly, adherence to
quality practices.

Valerie L Ng, PhD MD(Alameda County Medical Center/Highland Hospital)

Table of Contents:

UNIT I SAFETY IN THE LABORATORY

Unit Introduction                      

SAFETY PART 1: CREATING A SAFE WORKPLACE 

Fundamental Principles                     

Classroom Activity 1:   Performing a Risk Assessment           

Classroom Activity 2:   Exploring Safety-Related Government Web Sites      

Classroom Activity 3:   Responding to Emergencies              

SAFETY PART 2: WORKING SAFELY WITH CHEMICALS

Fundamental Principles                     

Classroom Activity 4:   Understanding the Chemicals with Which You Work     

Classroom Activity 5:   Personal Protection              

Laboratory Exercise 1:  Tracking the Spread of Chemical Contamination      

Classroom Activity 6:   Analyzing Safety Issues in a Laboratory Procedure     
     
SAFETY PART 3: WORKING SAFELY WITH BIOLOGICAL HAZARDS

Fundamental Principles                     

Laboratory Exercise 2:   Production of Bioaerosols and Factors Affecting Aerosol    
        
Production

Unit Discussion                       

Safety Contract, student copy                    

Safety Contract, to turn in     

UNIT II DOCUMENTATION IN THE LABORATORY 

Unit Introduction                      

Classroom Activity 7:   Being an Auditor                

Laboratory Exercise 3:  Keeping a Laboratory Notebook          

Classroom Activity 8:   Writing and Following an SOP           

Unit Discussion    
   
UNIT III METROLOGY IN THE LABORATORY  

Unit Introduction                      

Laboratory Exercise 4:  Recording Measurements with the Correct Number of Significant    
                                                                   Figures                   
Classroom Activity   9:  Constructing a Simple Balance            

Laboratory Exercise 5:  Weight Measurements 1: Good Weighing Practices       

Laboratory Exercise 6: Weight Measurements 2: Performance Verification      

Laboratory Exercise 7:  Volume Measurements 1: Proper Use of Volume        
                                                             Measuring Devices

Laboratory Exercise 8:  Volume Measurements 2: Performance Verification of a M Micropipette

Laboratory Exercise 9:  Measuring pH with Accuracy and Precision        

Unit Discussion                        

UNIT IV SPECTROPHOTOMETRY AND THE MEASUREMENT OF LIGHT  

Unit Introduction                      

Laboratory Exercise 10:  Color and the Absorbance of Light           

Laboratory Exercise 11:  Concentration, Absorbance, and Transmittance       

Laboratory Exercise 12:   Preparing a Standard Curve With Food Coloring and Using it for Quantitation 

Classroom Activity   10:  Beer?s Law and Calculating an Absorptivity Constant      

Laboratory Exercise 13:  Determination of the Absorptivity Constant for ONP      

Unit Discussion                        

UNIT V BIOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS  

Unit Introduction       
               
Classroom Activity 11:  Getting Ready to Prepare Solutions with One Solute: Calculations 

Classroom Activity 12:   Getting Ready to Prepare Solutions with One Solute: Ordering    
                                                              Chemicals 

Laboratory Exercise 14:  Preparing Solutions with One Solute          

Laboratory Exercise 15:  Preparing Solutions to the Correct Concentration       

Laboratory Exercise 16:  Working with Buffers 
             
Laboratory Exercise 17:  Preparing Breaking Buffer              

Laboratory Exercise 18:  Preparing TE Buffer                

Laboratory Exercise 19:  More Practice Making a Buffer            

Laboratory Exercise 20:  Making a Quality Product in a Simulated Company       

Unit Discussion                        

UNIT VI ASSAYS 
 
Unit Introduction                      

Laboratory Exercise 21:  Two Qualitative Assays              

Laboratory Exercise 22:  UV Spectrophotometric Assay of DNA: Quantitative Application   

Laboratory Exercise 23:  UV Spectrophotometric Assay of DNA and Proteins: Qualitative           Applications

Laboratory Exercise 24:  The Bradford Protein Assay: Learning the Assay       
Laboratory Exercise 25:  The Bradford Protein Assay: Exploring Assay Verification    
Laboratory Exercise 26:  The Beta-Galactosidase Enzyme Assay          
 Laboratory Exercise 27:  Comparing the Specific Activity of Two Preparations of      
         Beta-Galactosidase
Laboratory Exercise 28:  Using Spectrophotometry for Quality Control: Niacin      
Unit Discussion                                     
UNIT VII BIOLOGICAL SEPARATION METHODS  

Unit Introduction                      

Classroom Activity 13: Planning for Separating Materials Using a Centrifuge      
Laboratory Exercise 29: Separation of Two Substances Based on Their Differential     
       Affinities for Two Phases               
Laboratory Exercise 30:  Separation and Identification of Dyes Using Paper       
       Chromatography  
Laboratory Exercise 31:  Separating Molecules by Agarose Gel Electrophoresis     
Laboratory Exercise 32:  Using Agarose Gel Electrophoresis to Perform an Assay     
Laboratory Exercise 33:  Optimizing Agarose Gel Electrophoresis        

Laboratory Exercise 34:  Quantification of DNA by Agarose Gel Electrophoresis     
Laboratory Exercise 35: Introduction to Ion Exchange Column Chromatography     

Unit Discussion                       

UNIT VIII GROWING CELLS 

Unit Introduction                      

GROWING CELLS PART I: BACTERIAL CELLS

Laboratory Exercise 36:  Using a Compound Light Microscope          

Laboratory Exercise 37:  Aseptic Technique on an Open Lab Bench          

Laboratory Exercise 38:  Working with Bacteria on an Agar Substrate: Isolating      
                                             Individual Colonies

Laboratory Exercise 39:  Gram Staining                 

Laboratory Exercise 40:  Preparing Phosphate-Buffered Saline          

Laboratory Exercise 41:  The Aerobic Spread-Plate Method of Enumerating Colony-    
     
                                                Forming Units

Laboratory Exercise 42:  Preparing a Growth Curve for E. coli          

GROWING CELLS PART 2: MAMMALIAN CELLS

Laboratory Exercise 43:  Aseptic Technique in a Biological Safety Cabinet       

Laboratory Exercise 44:  Making Ham?s F12 Medium from Dehydrated Powder     

Laboratory Exercise 45:  Examining, Photographing, and Feeding CHO Cells      

Laboratory Exercise 46:  Counting Cells Using a Hemocytometer         

Laboratory Exercise 47:  Subculturing CHO Cells              

Laboratory Exercise 48:  Preparing a Growth Curve for CHO Cells          

Unit Discussion                       

APPENDICES

1. Abbreviations and Acronyms Used in this Laboratory Manual    
      
2. Glossary                         

3. Selected Bibliography                     

4. Brief Metric Review                    

5. Calculating Standard Deviation                  

6. Equipment, Supplies, and Reagents Required for Each Unit          

7.  Recipes and Preparation Notes                   
?