In Unit 1, Introduction to Biotechnology, students are provided with a clear understanding of what biotechnology entails and how it applies to every human being. Students also apply their understanding of biotechnology to a career field of their interest and present their research to the class audience.

Possible Activities

• Career Research Presentation 

• Writing Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

In Unit 2, Laboratory Skills, students review and refine the foundational skills needed for success throughout the course. Students are given additional practice and tips on how to use the basic tools and equipment of a biotechnician, including a micropipette. Students review notebook organization and the importance of note booking and documentation in scientific research is reinforced. Focus is paid to observational skills, the fundamentals of experimental design, the nature of science, and communication of data and results.

Possible Labs

• DNA Extraction and Precipitation

• Pipetting

• Kool-Aid Chromatography

• Making Solutions

• Titration

• More Writing SOPs

In Unit Three, Bacteriology and Cell Culture, students will learn all about the microscopic world of bacteria. Through a series of laboratory investigations and case studies, students will learn the fundamentals of aseptic technique, bacterial morphology, bacterial identification and classification and the causes and potential problems and future resulting from antibiotic resistance of bacteria.

Possible Labs

• Making Microbiology Media

• Disk Diffusion Test - Modified Kirby-Bauer Test

• Microbes and Health: An Illustration of Koch's Postulate

• Gram Staining

• Quantifying Bacterial Numbers

• Staining Eukaryotic Cells

In Unit Four, DNA Structure and Function, students learn how DNA has revolutionized our world and biotechnology. Students will learn about the discovery of the double helix and the impact that discovery has made on technology and the fields of science. They will also learn how knowing the structure of DNA has led to many new fields of study, such as proteomics. Provided in this unit, students will build a DNA model and use their model to understand and demonstrate the process of DNA replication. Students will learn how the process of gel electrophoresis works to separate molecules, including DNA and then complete many laboratory exercises using the technique. Students will learn about the discovery and application of restriction enzymes, apply them in a practical lab, then, along with an understanding of DNA profiling (RFLP's and STR's) the students will solve a crime or exonerate a wrongly convicted person using DNA evidence and additional forensic evidence then run a mock trial to debate about the validity of their evidence.

Possible Labs

• Restriction Site Prediction Using NEBcutter

• Casting Agarose Gels

• Dye Electrophoresis

• Restriction Digestion and Analysis of Lambda DNA

• Forensic DNA Fingerprinting

• Plasmid Mapping

In Unit Five, Transformation and Genetic Engineering, students will successfully transform bacteria using proper techniques to produce a bacteria containing green fluorescent protein. Students will perform a second transformation of their own design and use the product of their transformation to create "bacterial art". Following transformation, students will expand their understanding of genetic engineering to more applications, including agriculture and medicine. Students will consider and discuss the bioethics of genetic engineering and participate in a Socratic discussion about the benefits and challenges of genetically modified organisms. Students will then genetically modify C. elegans using the process of RNAi (RNA interference) and evaluate the results of their genetic modification to determine the function of affected gene.

Possible Labs

• Bacterial Transformation with S3 Plasmid

• Bacterial Transformation with pGLO Plasmid

• Purification of S3 and pGLO Plasmid

• DNA Quantitation

In Unit Six, Polymerase Chain Reaction, students will use the technique of PCR and DNA sequencing to amplify DNA and determine the identify of several fish species. They will use this information to compare to know sequences using bioinformatics and databanks (BLAST and Fishbank). Students will use their learning to make decisions about the bioethics of labeling species and similar applications of PCR and bioinformatics. Students will also do a laboratory experiment using their own DNA where they will extract, purify, amplify, and sequence their own DNA looking for a specific PV92 Alu Insertion. Students will use the evidence from their own DNA to draw conclusions about the relatedness of students within the class. Students will then apply their understanding of PCR and bioinformatics to another application, including species conservation, species relatedness (evolution), human descent and lineage.

Possible Labs

• STR PCR Analysis

• GMO Detection by PCR

• Detection of the Human PV92 Alu Insertion

• Fish DNA Barcoding

In Unit Seven, students will learn about the relatively new and exciting field of proteomics. They will first learn what the study of proteins entails and what the application of proteins can do for our society in fields as varied as agriculture, medicine, and food preservation. Students will simulate the process of protein synthesis, examine the assembly of a protein, and demonstrate how diseases, including genetic diseases and some cancers, result from mutations that alter a protein product. Students will successfully use the process of SDS- PAGE to separate and analyze proteins. They will then evaluate the future of cancer treatment through a Socratic seminar and guest speaker on proteomics.

Possible Labs

• Protein Quantitation Using the Bradford Assay

• Size Exclusion Chromatography

• GFP Purification by Hydrophobic Interaction Chromatography

• SDS-PAGE of Fish Muscle

• Biofuel Enzyme Assay

• Exploring Bioinformatics with GFP

In Unit Eight, Immunological Applications, students will learn about the human immune system, virus structure and function, vaccines and the bioethics surrounding the use of vaccines.  They will do a lab experiment where they will detect a serum antibody through an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and run a computer simulation of a viral outbreak to experience how the viral transmission will occur leading to a pandemic. Students will apply their understanding of the content and results of the lab test to create a presentation for the class audience about a current or past viral outbreak.

Possible Labs

• Ouchterlony DOuble Immunodiffusion Assay

• Serum Antibody Detection by ELISA

• Quantitative ELISA

• Western Blotting

In the final unit of the curriculum, the students will design and complete a culminating project that is related to a real-world situation. This process will include the design of a laboratory experiment to demonstrate biotechnology skills including transformation, PCR, gel electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE, RNAi, and/or ELISA or any other related biotechnology skills the students have learned about. Students could also use this time to learn and apply a new biotechnology skill. The students will have to gather their data, analyze their results, prepare a media presentation and then present to an authentic audience. An authentic audience will include members from industry from a field related to the student's project.

Possible Labs

• Individual choice of experiments