Syllabus academic year 2011/2012
(Created 2011-09-01.)
EXPERIMENTAL BIOPHYSICSTEK265
Credits: 15. Grading scale: TH. Cycle: A (Second Cycle). Main field: Technology. Language of instruction: The course might be given in English. Optional for: F4, F4nf, MNAV1, N4nbm, N4nf. Course coordinator: Dr Jonas Tegenfeldt, jonas.tegenfeldt@ftf.lth.se, Department of Physics. Recommended prerequisits: Compulsory courses of the first three years of the Engineering Nanoscience programme. The course might be cancelled if the number of applicants is less than 6. The number of participants is limited to 20 Selection criteria: Credits remaining for the degree. Assessment: Written examination, written report. The final grade of the student is based on theory (30%), laboratory work (30%) and project (40%). Parts: 3. Home page: http://nanobio.ftf.lth.se/~biokurs/.

Knowledge and understanding
For a passing grade the student must

- be able to discuss the connection between orders of magnitude in biology and microelectronic components and how this can be used to an advantage to develop new tools for biomedical analysis.

- be able to explain fundamental issues and problems in micro- and nanofluidics

- be able to describe advanced imaging methods

- be able to explain fundamental techniques ofr studies of single molecules

- be able to explain fundamental mechanisms within the field of molecular motors

- be able to explain the fundamental issues within surface based sensors

- be able to describe the interaction of cells with nanostructured surfaces

- be able to describe systems such as lab on a chip, integration, nerve chips.

Skills and abilities
For a passing grade the student must

- be able to seek information outside the course literature

- be able to understand and summarize scientific articles

- be able to develop simple experiments, that is assess and choose appropriateexperimental techniques for a specific question

- be able to plan a scientific project

- be able to write well-structured project reports that summarize, explains and analyzes experimental and/or theoretical work

- be able to present results of independent work in an oral presentation and actively take part in scientific discussions

Judgement and approach
For a passing grade the student must

- have experienced work within a research-level project

- understand limitations and possibilities of miniaturization of bioanalytical tools

Contents
The course contains three main parts. The first part of the course consists of lectures and seminars. During this time fundamental issues within the relevant subjects are presented and discussed. It is important that the students take active part in the discussion, especially during the seminars. An important goal is to learn how to extract information efficiently from scientific articles. A common theme throughout the course is micro and nanostructures within biology and technology and how they connect to each other.

- Orders of magnitude in biology and physics.

- Micro and nanofluidics: separation and analysis of molecules and cells, soft lithography

- Detection of single molecules: optical, electronic and mechanical means of detection including sensor principles based on SERS,

fluorescence and evanescent waves.

- Surface phenomena and surface sensors: SPR, QCM, lipid bilayers.

- Interaction of proteins and cells with nanostructured surfaces: control of motor proteins, growth of axons, antibody-antigen

reactions for protein-chip applications.

- Imaging of biological structures: AFM & STM technologies.

- Use of low-dimensional electronic materials for life science applications.

- Systems issues: Methods for communication with the nervous system, lab on a chip applications.

The second part of the course consists of laborative exercises, primarily in our research laboratories. The students are given an opportunity to familirize themselves with the equipment that is used at the department for biophysics.

- fundamental fluorescence microscopy including optical tweezers

- use of total internal reflection for detection and imaging of single molecules

- soft lithography and microfluidics

- surface-based sensors

- neurobiophysics

The last part of the course is a project where the students work individually or in small groups on primarily innovative, yet simple, experiments in a research environment at a location of their choice at the university or outside the university. The projects are defined together with the course coordinator, the project advisors and the students.

Literature
The course does not rely on any course text book. Instead it uses recent and relevant scientific papers from the literature, some of which are review papers. Laboratory guides and question sets are available online. In addition all project reports are available as pdf files on the course website.

Parts

Code: 0106. Name: Theory.
Higher education credits: 4,5. Grading scale: TH. Assessment: Written examination.

Code: 0206. Name: Laboratory Work.
Higher education credits: 4,5. Grading scale: TH. Assessment: Written examination.

Code: 0306. Name: Project.
Higher education credits: 6. Grading scale: TH. Assessment: Written report and oral presentation.