North Montco Technical Career Center

Montgomery County Community College

INTRODUCTION TO BIOTECHNOLOGY
BIT 120 - 4 credits

Fall 2021 Mrs. Mary Courtney

M-F 7:30-8:45am or 1:00-2:15pm Office Phone: 215-368-1177 X161
Rooms 405-406-407 Email – mcourtney@nmtcc.org

Required Textbook: Introduction to Biotechnology, 4th Edition; Authors William J. Thieman and Michael
A. Palladino. Will be provided
 A 3-ring binder and notebook are required as powerpoints will be handed out.
 A lab coat & safety classes are required and will be provided.
 Laboratory Notebooks are provided.
 Canvas is currently our online module and contains all powerpoints, study guides, et
o Username/password is same as nmtcc information

PREREQUISITS
High School Biology (college preparatory or higher), chemistry (concurrent acceptable), and AP Biology
(concurrent acceptable)

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is designed to acquaint students with the field of biotechnology. Topics will include a
history of the biopharmaceutical industry, the drug discovery and development processes, medical
biotechnology, forensics and bioremediation. Students will learn basic techniques and
instrumentation used in biotechnology labs and the fundamentals of recombinant DNA technology.
Issues that impact both the industry and the general population such as the regulation of the
pharmaceutical industry, stem cell research, GMO’s and bioethics will be examined in this course.

COURSE POLICIES

ASSIGNMENTS: Homework will be given and will be expected to be handed in on the due date.
Reading assignments should be completed prior to the lecture given for that specific topic.
Laboratory reports will be due no later than 1 week after completion of lab. The laboratory and
lecture portions of this course will be integrated.

MISCELLANEOUS:

Please seek help early if you are having difficulty with the material. As a courtesy to all students,
please turn off cell phones during class and store them.

GRADING: Grades for this course will be based on a point system. There will be approximately a total of
700 points for the course, to be distributed as follows:
 Exams (4) – 100 points each
 Labs – 50 points each
 Homework – 5-10 points each

Courtney BIT 120 syllabus 1 Fall 2021

  Final Course grade will be computed as number of points earned/number points
possible X 100.

Montgomery County Community College Grading System

A (Excellent) 93 to 100
A- 90 to 92
B+ 87 to 89
B (Good) 84 to 86
B- 80 to 83
C+ 77 to 79
C 70 to 76
D (Lowest Passing Grade) 60 to 69
F (Failing) Below 60
Note: when final grade contains
decimal, the typical rounding rule
applies (<.5 round down, ≥ .5,
round up

LEARNING GOALS
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to perform the following:

1.Describe important historical events and figures in the development of biotechnology processes
during the past century.
2.Summarize the general properties of biological cells, including major organelles and their
respective functions.
3.Describe and understand the function of the basic properties of DNA, RNA and proteins.
4.Define the principles of recombinant DNA technology, including cloning, DNA sequencing, PCR,
cell culture and immunological techniques.
5.Develop an understanding of microbial, animal plant and medical biotechnology
6.Describe the use of biotechnology techniques in forensic analysis
7.Develop a thorough understanding of the drug development process.
8.Describe the organization of and the job opportunities found within biotechnology and
pharmaceutical companies.
9.Name and define the operating principles of the regulatory agencies that approve
pharmaceutical products.
10. Define intellectual property and patents.
11. Define global and ethical issues that affect decisions made by researchers at biotechnology
and pharmaceutical companies.
12. Plan and deliver an oral presentation or paper about relevant biotechnology topics.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Lecture (including possible guest lecturers from industry), small group discussions, reading assignments,
one oral presentation or written assignment, section examinations, and a final comprehensive
examination

Courtney BIT 120 syllabus 2 Fall 2021

 Tentative* Schedule for BIT120, Introduction to Biotechnology, Fall 2018

Date Topics/Chapter Activity/Preparation Lab

Week 1 Course Policies/ safety Homeworks
History of Biotechnology Chapter 1
Begin chapter 1
Week 2 Finish Chapter 1 Homeworks Pipette Lab
Chapter 2 Genes and Chapter 2 Keeping a lab notebook, handout
Genomes Genomic DNA Isolation
Week 3 Chapter 2 continued Test 1 on Chapter 1 & 2 Genomic DNA Isolation
Making solutions
Week 4 Chapter 3- Recombinant Chapter 3
DNA Technology
Week 5 Continue with Chapter 3 Bioinformatics exercise
Analysis of restriction digest
Plasmid identification
Week 6 Continue with Chapter 3 RE digest, agarose gel
electrophoresis Lab
Week 7 Finish Chapter 3 Homework
Chapter 4
Week 8 Chapter 4- Protein as Test 2 on chapters 3 & 4
Products
Week 9 Chapter 5 – Microbial Microbial Cell culture
Biotechnology Microbe identification, Gram stain
Aseptic technique, media and plate
prep

Week 10 Chapter 11 – Medical

Biotechnology
Week 11 Chapter 11 – Medical Test 3 on Chapters 5 & Cloning of GFP and HIC
Biotechnology 11 chromatography of GFP

Week 12 Chapter 6 – Plant

Biotechnology

Week 13 Chapter 7- Animal

Biotechnology
Week 14 Chapter 8-Forensic Forensics Lab
Biotechnology & Chapter
10 – Aquatic Biotechnology
Week 15 Chapter 9- Bioremediation Finalize lab notebooks
Chapter 12- Biotechnology
Regulations
Week 16 Chapter 13, Biotech Ethics Hand in notebooks for grading

Courtney BIT 120 syllabus 3 Fall 2021

Week 17 Final Exam
Notes:
 While every effort will be made to remain on schedule, this schedule and syllabus are subject to
change. Some experiments may run longer or shorter than expected, so we will adjust
accordingly
 Experiments must be written up in lab notebooks within a week of performing the experiment
and the write up reviewed and signed off on by lab partner.
 For Grading purposes, all laboratory reports will be scanned using the GeniusScan App and
submitted via Canvas within 1 week after lab completion.
 Points will be deducted if deadlines are not met.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Plan B Labs – all plan B labs will be documented in the lab notebook and submitted via
Canvas as described above.

Using Pipets in the Lab

1) Micropipet - https://www.jove.com/v/5033/an-introduction-to-the-micropipettor
2) Serological Pipets - https://www.jove.com/v/5034/introduction-to-serological-pipettes-and-
pipettors
3) Measuring mass - https://www.jove.com/v/5037/measuring-mass-in-the-laboratory

DNA Isolation and Restriction Enzyme Analysis Full Lab

https://www.jove.com/science-education/10628/dna-isolation-and-restriction-enzyme-analysis

Microbiological techniques – Gram Staining Full Lab

1) Aseptic Laboratory Techniques – Plating methods - https://www.jove.com/v/3064/aseptic-
laboratory-techniques-plating-methods
2) Gram Staining - https://www.jove.com/v/10092/gram-staining-of-bacteria-from-environmental-
sources
3) Using a light microscope - https://www.jove.com/v/5041/introduction-to-light-microscopy

Bacterial Transformation and Transformation Efficiency Lab

https://www.jove.com/science-education/10574/bacterial-transformation

Courtney BIT 120 syllabus 4 Fall 2021