Laboratories in the Biotechnology degree programme

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In the Bio-analysis Laboratory, students learn how to apply bio-analytical methods in practice to characterise proteins and nucleic acids. The training includes experiments using the following methods:

• Isoelectric focusing (IEF)
• Western blotting analysis
• Purification of a recombinant protein by means of affinity chromatography
• Setting up and carrying out an ELISA experiment
• Southern hybridisation

Head of Laboratory: 
Prof. Dr. Bettina Weiss

Assistant:
B.Sc. Tobias Maucher

Laboratory:                   S04.105

Laboratory phone:               -3536

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In the Biochemistry Laboratory the students learn and practise the basic techniques of handling with biological molecules and macromolecules, which playing an inportant role within living organism. The practical training in organized into 11 individual and 2 common experimental days

During the experimental days preparative methods like extraction of lipids from brain and liver, alkoholic DNA precipitation, dialysis and chromatography of proteins and isolation of antibodies used.

Furthermore analytical methods like SDS-PAGE, thin layer chromatography, Agarose gel electrophoresis, ELISA and turbidimetry, enzymatic analytic, Bradford protein assay , Biuret protein assay and BCA assay are used.

Head of Laboratory: 
Prof.Dr. Cristina Sirrenberg-Cruciat

Assistant: 
Dipl.-Ing.(FH) Bülent Turan

Laboratory:                      S04.107

Laboratory phone:                 -3537

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Students become familiar with all aspects of the cultivation of micro-organisms. This includes the production of media, the aseptic technique and the preparation of precultures and main cultures in bioreactors. They also determine characteristic parameters of the bioreactor (e. g. kLa value, mixing time, power input) experimentally.

To achieve optimum management of fed-batch processes of bioreactors, the students design feeding strategies and examine them experimentally in laboratory bioreactors. The process analysis of the cultivation is carried out by measuring and calculating offline and online parameters (incl. analysis of substrates and metabolites, cell count or optical density, osmolality, waste gas composition, calculation of specific rates and yield coefficients).

After the E.coli bacteria have been cultivated, the cells are digested with the aid of a high-pressure homogeniser and an ultrasonic homogeniser, thus releasing the recombinant protein contained therein.

As part of the lectures on measurement and closed-loop control engineering, PID controllers are parameterised with the aid of experimental methods for a flow and filling level control and the command tracking and disturbance rejection characteristic is investigated.

Head of Laboratory:   
Prof.Dr.-Ing. Richard Biener

Assistant: 
Dipl.-Ing.(FH) Thomas Horn

Laboratory:                    S04.009

Laboratory phone:                 -3555

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The laboratory work undertaken by the students teaches them how to isolate micro-organisms from various sample materials, how to prepare pure cultures and perform the phenotypic characterisation of the isolates produced by means of microscopic, biochemical and physiological methods. Selected bacteria are tested for their ability to produce antimicrobial natural substances. This is complemented by a phylogenetic characterisation of the micro-organisms by means of 16S rRNA analysis. Students who take this practical course learn how to isolate DNA and perform its subsequent characterisation by means of restriction analysis and agarose gel electrophoresis. Various methods of introducing DNA into bacterial cells are used in the cloning of DNA fragments.

Head of Laboratory: 
Prof. Dr. Dirk Schwartz

Assistant: 
Dipl.-Ing.(FH) Thomas Horn

Laboratory:                      S04.010

Laboratory phone:                 -3556

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The students learn and practise the basic techniques of eukaryotic cell culture with human and animal cell lines. Students plan, carry out and evaluate the experiments on their own. Simple fundamental principles of a QM system in the laboratory are taken into account here using SOPs and lists.
The use of the fundamental techniques is applied in more advanced experiments, for example in cytotoxicity tests, in various staining methods and differentiation experiments.

Head of Laboratory:     
Prof. Dr. Bettina Weiss

Assistant:  
B.Sc. Tobias Maucher

Laboratory:                     S04.005

Laboratory phone:                 -3536

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In the Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, students learn to undertake chemical work in the laboratory, carry out experiments according to predefined tasks and record their work.

They perform experiments independently on the topics of titration (acid, precipitation, redox, complexometry), potentiometry, electrogravimetry, solubility product, photometry, AAS, qualitative analysis of cations and anions, production of preparations.

Head of Laboratory:       Prof. Dr. Sandra Meinhard, Prof. Dr. Stephan Appel
Assistants:                      Frieder Rohm

Laboratory:                            S 10.122

Laboratory phone:                - 3544

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In the Organic Chemistry Laboratory, the students receive simple instructions and thus practise how to properly assemble glass apparatus, recognise hazardous materials and learn how to handle them properly. The experiments are chosen such that the students gain insights into the following methods as they perform them: dosing of liquids and solids, heating and cooling, mixing and shaking, drying and purification of liquids and solids.

The substances presented are identified to determine the most important physical properties using simple methods such as the determination of the melting point, refractometry, thin-layer chromatography and polarimetry.

Head of Laboratory:         Prof. Dr. Michael Imrich

Assistants:                         Frieder Rohm, Christine Kunert

Laboratory:                     S 10.120

Laboratory phone:        -3544

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The practical work aims to familiarise students with various important analytical methods in practice, while at the same time consolidating their theoretical knowledge of important analytical techniques.

The actual content is subject to continual change to meet the requirements of those working with the methods in practice. Apart from fundamental experiments on chromatography and spectroscopy, modern methods such as the analysis of formaldehyde by means of HPLC or DIN methods and cation determination by means of polarography are taught.

Head of Laboratory:   Prof. Dr. Constanze Stiefel
Assistant:                    Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Edda Binder
 

Laboratory:                             S 10.117

Laboratory phone:                -3549