Protein Techniques (BIOT 4133) is a one-semester course with four scheduled hours of laboratory exercises and one scheduled hour lecture per week. This course is designed to train students to work independently and safely in the biotechnology laboratory by teaching comprehensive research techniques, methods for documentation and data analysis, and good laboratory practices.

Students will learn and practice protein techniques including six exclusion chromatography, ion exchange, chromatography, affinity chromatography, three phase partitioning, SDS-PAGE and gel staining, drying, and annotation, western blotting and hybridization, and the preparation and use of an ELISA. The students will be taught to use, bioinformatics tools and resources that can assist them with their research and the interpretation of their results, including NCBI databases.

This course will continue students’ exploration of cell biology and provide greater details of immunology, cell growth, receptors and signalling. The laboratory component will support the theory taught in lectures. In addition, the laboratory will also introduce students to the fundamental techniques of culturing eukaryotic cells. Students will also learn to use a haemocytometer, to subdivide cells, and to prepare and thaw frozen cell stocks.

In this course, the basic principles of chromatographic instruments and methods are presented.  The types of chromatographic separations and the associated terminology are examined.  The applications of thin layer chromatography are addressed, along with the basic applications and types of column chromatography.  The information present in a typical chromatogram is described and some fundamental calculations performed.  After looking at basic concepts, a brief overview of two of the more commonly used instruments, HPLC and GC, is presented.  The basic components of both are described.  The use of chromatography as both a qualitative and quantitative instrument is addressed.  Chromatographic methods and method validation are described.  This course serves as a prerequisite to Chromatography II, in which more detail is presented regarding the instrumentation and applications of chromatographic methods.  The laboratory component of this course allows students to receive practical hands-on training on the HPLC, IC and GC and to apply the theory presented in lecture.

Placement is considered an important part as a technologist’s education, and student are required to obtain a minimum of 80 hours on the job placement in their chosen field and 5 hours of required workshops. There is no formal set of topics of instruction for placement but it must provide the student with practical experience in their chosen field. Each placement will be different as there will be a variety of organizations participating.  Students may achieve their placement requirement in various ways by completing one of the following:  

A summer position after second year related to their field of study.

Working on day a week during the fall and or winter academic school year.

Working during a block period of time such as the Christmas break, Reading week or in May after all courses work is completed.

Completing an internship for 4,8,12 or 16 months.

Applying for a prior work experience with proper approval and documentation.

Placement is approached as an actual job, with students attending interviews and being selected for positions by the employer. Students are to perform as technologists in training. A satisfactory completion is mandatory in order to graduate from Durham College. 

This course introduces applied aspects of microbiology.  It includes a practical and theoretical introduction to microbial cell morphology and the structure and function of prokaryotes and eukaryotes.  The diversity of the microbial world is examined by comparing bacterial, fungal, protozoan and viral organisms. The growth, reproduction and enumeration of micro-organisms are studied as well as the effects of physical and chemical agents on microbial growth.  The laboratory component provides hands-on experience in the isolation, cultivation and enumeration of micro-organisms as well as in the preparation of microbiological media and maintenance of microbial cultures. 

This course describes the actions of pharmaceutical products on biological systems and the body.  Factors influencing the intensity of drug responses (administration, pharmacokinetics—absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion) will be addressed.  Receptor-mediated drug action will be examined as it applies to a whole variety of drug classifications.  An overview of the formulation of pharmaceutical products and their relationship to pharmacological activity will be examined, with emphasis on the BCS classification system and how this relates to the pharmacological activity of finished dosage forms.  Major categories of drugs (CNS, cardiovascular, antihistamines, NSAIDS, etc.) will be discussed along with their actions, adverse effects, etc.  A brief look at alternative drugs will also be included.

This course focuses on the use of spectroscopic instruments in both qualitative and quantitative chemical analysis.  The emphasis in this course is on the use of spectroscopic instruments (AAS, FES, GFAA, ICP, UV/VIS, fluorometry, IR, NMR, MS, XRF, etc.) in the quantitative analysis of bio-molecules, organic compounds and inorganic chemicals.  These instruments will be addresses with regards to instrumentation, methods, sample preparation, applications and calculations.  The application of these instruments to common analytical procedures will be stressed.  Spectroscopy I consists of both a lecture and laboratory component.  In the lab, the students will be given extensive hands-on experience with a variety of spectroscopic instruments (AAS, FES, UV/VIS, fluorometry, IR, NIR).

Bio-Processing (BIOT 6131) is a one-semester course with one scheduled hour of lecture and three schedules hours of laboratory time per week. This project-based course is designed to allow students in the final semester of the Biotechnology Technologist program to put into practice the skills and knowledge that they have developed in their program, while working in a team environment.

The lecture time will be used to discuss the concepts applied in this course and to put them into the context of the business world. In the laboratory student teams will conducts two concurrent term projects consisting of pilot versions of biotechnological processes used to produce commercial products. In one project the teams will express and purify a functional enzyme from a micro-organism using chromatographic and affinity techniques. In the other project the teams will carry put a series of small-scale fermentations. In both projects students will run assays to test the success and quality of their processes and products.

Student will also develop a fundamental understanding of marketing, microeconomics, managerial accounting, corporate financing, and business strategy with respect to their chosen industry, and apply this knowledge to the analysis of a business case.

Bio-Regulations is a one-semester course with three scheduled hours of lecture per week.  This course will provide students with an in depth understanding of vital legislation, procedures and policies that exist to regulate all biotechnology-related workplaces.

This course continues and expands upon the concepts presented in Chromatography I.  A more detailed examination of the instrumentation and components used in HPLC, GC and IC is presented.  Sample preparation is examined along with the methods and applications of each instrument.  Troubleshooting strategies are presented and discussed for both HPLC and GC systems and chromatograms.  Other chromatographic systems (GC-MS, HPLC-MS, CE, SFC) will also be addressed.  Validation of chromatographic instruments is presented.  The laboratory component of this course allows the students to receive practical hands-on training on the HPLC, IC and GC and to apply the theory presented in lecture.

Placement is considered an important part as a technologist’s education, and student are required to obtain a minimum of 80 hours on the job placement in their chosen field and 5 hours of required workshops. There is no formal set of topics of instruction for placement but it must provide the student with practical experience in their chosen field. Each placement will be different as there will be a variety of organizations participating.  Students may achieve their placement requirement in various ways by completing one of the following:  

A summer position after second year related to their field of study.

Working on day a week during the fall and or winter academic school year.

Working during a block period of time such as the Christmas break, Reading week or in May after all courses work is completed.

Completing an internship for 4,8,12 or 16 months.

Applying for a prior work experience with proper approval and documentation.

Placement is approached as an actual job, with students attending interviews and being selected for positions by the employer. Students are to perform as technologists in training. A satisfactory completion is mandatory in order to graduate from Durham College. 

This course examines the relationship between micro-organisms, their human hosts and pharmaceutical products, cosmetics and medical devices. In lectures and labs, students further develop microbiological techniques to determine microbial populations and isolate specific spoilage micro-organisms. This is achieved by using conventional accredited laboratory methods including USP sterility, preservative challenge, and microbial limits testing methodology. Other topics include chemotherapeutic agents, their mode of action, resistance and susceptibility. Emerging pathogens and superbugs resistance to antimicrobial controls and their impact are studied. As well, students examine the methods of detecting antibiotic sensitivity and potency.

This course describes the development, approval process, formulation, manufacture and testing of pharmaceutical products. Solid dosage forms (tablets, capsules, powders), liquid dosage forms (solutions, syrups, suspensions, emulsions) and other dosage forms (ointments, creams, transdermal patches, aerosols) are addressed.  The pharmaceutical industry is addressed from a Canadian and North American perspective.  The role of government agencies (USP/NF, FDA, CDER, TPD) is discussed.  cGMPs and GLPs are described as they relate to this industry as well as Quality Assurance and its role in helping to establish/maintain quality standards.  The Laboratory portion of the course addresses the testing of raw materials and finished products.  Both chemical (impurity testing, assays – HPLC, UV/VIS, and identification tests) and physical testing (friability, disintegration, dissolution, viscosity, hardness, etc.) are performed according to USP/NF monographs.  The importance of documentation in the laboratory is stressed.

DNA Techniques (BIOT 3131) is a one-semester course with four scheduled hours of laboratory exercises and one scheduled hour of lecture per week. This course is designed to train students to work independently and safely in the biotechnology laboratory by teaching comprehensive research techniques, methods for documentation and data analysis, and good laboratory practices.

Students will learn and practice DNA techniques including DNA purification from bacteria and agarose gels, DNA quantifications by UV spectroscopy, restriction digest, DNA ligation, preparation of competent cells and bacterial transformation, DNA fingerprinting (using PCR), Southern blotting, plasmid mapping, and agarose gel electrophoresis and annotation. Students will also learn and practice protein quantification using the Bradford method. The students will be taught to use bioinformatics tools and resources that can assist them with their work and the interpretation of their results, including NCBI databases and on-line modelling of restriction digests. 

This course addresses spectroscopic methods of analysis.  In particular, the application of these methods to the identification and structural analyses of organic compounds will be emphasized.  Infrared, ultraviolet, visible, nuclear magnetic resonance, and mass spectroscopy will be looked at in terms of basic theory, sampling, data collection, spectral evaluation and interpretation.  Correlation tables will be used to predict and identify the structure of a variety of organic compounds using spectra alone and in combination.  The laboratory component of this course provides hands-on experience using infrared, ultraviolet/visible, and atomic absorption, emission and fluorometry spectroscopies in addition to a number of other instrumental methods.