OVERVIEW

The Course of Industrial Biotechnology is held by Prof. Attilio Converti during the first semester of the Master Degree in Chemical and Process Engineering. It has total duration of 80 hours, including 4 of exercises in classroom and 16 in lab and consists of a first introductory part (20 hours), in which the basic concepts of biochemistry and microbiology are remembered, a second part covering the main industrial applications and a final oneconcerning the applications of environmental concern.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims at providing the concepts needed for a good knowledge of the biotechnological processes and plants, with specific concern to industrial and environmental applications. Particular attention is paid to the principles and technological aspects of new biotechnological applications.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Through the frequency and individual study, but above all through a fruitful interaction between teacher and students during the planned didactic activities (lectures, classroom and laboratory training) and the office hours, the students will be able to:

remember and deepen the fundamental concepts of biochemistry and microbiology, at the base of biotechnological processes

familiarize themselves with the principles and technological aspects of new biotechnological applications

acquire an industrial perspective in which production is intimately linked to environmental protection and/or remediation

mature, as an added value of the course, the ability to work in group, during both the laboratory training and the joined preparation of a review for final exam

acquire transversal skills in terms of communication and preparation of a review

PREREQUISITES

For a successful learning, basic knowledge of biology, biochemistry and mathematics is required, but no formal prerequisites are foreseen.

TEACHING METHODS

The course includes classroom lectures and training activities either in classroom or in laboratory. In the initial part of the course, the fundamentals of biotechnology (12 hours) and then more in-depth theoretical issues (48 hours) will be offered. Finally, lab training will be carried out on the complete development of a bioprocess taken as an example (16 hours), and classroom exercises will be done on how to perform and writing a scientific review (4 hours).

The transversal skills in terms of autonomy of judgment and ability to work in a team will be acquired a) during the laboratory training in which the students will be engaged in groups and b) leaving to the students the choice of the topic, among those presented in lectures or practical training, to deepen in the review, to be carried out preferentially in pairs. Communication skills will be encouraged through the preparation and presentation of a Power Point file on the bioprocess chosen for the review to be evaluated during the examination.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The teaching program includes the presentation and discussion of the following topics:
1. Introduction to biotechnology (12 hours)
The cell: constitution, morphology and fundamental molecules
Proteins and enzymes: structure, conditions influencing enzymatic activity
2. Microbial metabolism (4 hours)
Catabolic and anabolic pathways, ATP and ADP
Genetic code and protein synthesis: DNA and RNA
3. Industrial biotechnological processes (6 hours)
Classification
Types of conduction
Aeration, Agitation, Sterilization, Immobilization
4. Industrial fermenters (4 hours)
5. Recovery of biotechnological products and chromatographic techniques (4 hours)
6. Kinetic and thermodynamic aspects of biotechnology (6 hours)
Kinetics of microbial growth
Material balance and productivity of a CSTR with and without recycle
Enzyme Kinetics and thermodynamics
7. Industrial fermentations (12 hours)
Glycolytic pathways
Krebs cycle
Respiration and oxidative phosphorylation
Homolactic and heterolactic fermentations
Alcoholic fermentation
Acetic fermentation
Butyric butyl fermentations
Mixed-acid fermentation
Propionic fermentations
Citric fermentation
8. Environmental biotechnology (12 hours)
Anaerobic digestion and biogas production
Biofiltration of gaseous effluents
Metabolic pathways of organic pollutants degradation
9. Implementation of a lab-scale bioprocess (16 hours)
10. Classroom exercises on how to prepare a scientific review (4 hours)

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Power Point didactic material to be used during lectures will be delivered to the students during the first three lessons, while the sheets needed for lab training will be delivered during the first practical training together with safety tools. Notwithstanding the notes taken in classroom and the material delivered at the beginning of course are considered sufficient to prepare the exam, the following books, available upon request also to the teacher, can be consulted for further deepening needed to prepare the review, in addition, of course, of scientific journals freely available online to UNIGE students.

1. M.T. Madigan, J.M. Martinko, J. Parker, Brock, Biologia dei Microrganismi, Volumi 1 e 2, Casa Editrice Ambrosiana, Milan, 2003.

2. S. Aiba, A.E. Humphrey, N.F. Millis, Biochemical Engineering, 2nd edition, New York, Academic Press, 1973.

3. M. Marzona, Chimica delle Fermentazioni & Microbiologia Industriale, 2nd edition, Piccin Nuova Libraria S.p.A., Padua, 1996.

4. P. Barbieri, G. Bestetti, E. Galli, D. Zannoni (Eds.), Microbiologia Ambientale ed Elementi di Ecologia Microbica, 1st edition, Casa Editrice Ambrosiana, Milan, april 2008 (ISBN 978-88-08-18434-4).

5. S. Donadio, G. Marino (Eds.), Biotecnologie Microbiche, 1st edition, Casa Editrice Ambrosiana, september 2008 (ISBN 987-88-08-18438-2).

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

ATTILIO CONVERTI (President)

BRUNO FABIANO

PATRIZIA PEREGO

LESSONS

LESSONS START

First semester of the academic year: for the timetable consult the website of the Polytechnic School

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The final examination consists of passing an oral test, in which the student presents, with the help of a Power Point file, his/her review previously agreed with the teacher and sent by the student to the teacher by mail at least one week before, for correction purposes. Since the topic of the review will be only a small part of the course contents, the shortcomings, imperfections or doubts highlighted in the review will be the starting point for a series of questions on the basic principles of biotechnology and on biotechnological processes in general, which will allow the teacher to ascertain the knowledge level achieved by the student. The number of questions is not fixed, in the sense that it will depend on the degree of excellence of the review in terms of consistency of the work carried out with respect to the topic, structure and completeness of work, updating of the literature, compliance with general editorial rules, personal conclusions on topic and future perspectives. Nonetheless, at least one question will be asked about each of these criteria, as well as about the topic of lab training activity.

Three exam sessions will be available for the ‘winter’ period (December, February and during the Polytechnic School break around the Easter period) and 5 sessions for the 'summer' one [end of May, June, July (2 sessions), September]. No extraordinary sessions will be available outside the periods indicated by the Polytechnic School, except for students who have not included in their study plan learning activities in the current academic year.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Details on how to prepare for the exam along with the deepening degree of each topic will be elucidated to the students during the lessons. The students, at the end of the course, propose to the teacher to deepen a specific biotechnological application in the industrial and/or environmental field chosen among those explained during lectures and lab training. After agreeing the topic with the teacher, the students, preferentially but not necessarily in pairs, will send the review to the teacher at least one week before the oral exam. The work, after correction by the teacher, will be taken as the main starting point of the oral examination, becoming the subject of at least 5 questions aimed at assessing the learning of the basic principles of biotechnology. The work will be presented by the student in Italian or English with the help of a Power Point file. This part of the exam is aimed to ascertain the student's abilities to discern the relative importance of the different contributions of the scientific literature, to synthesize and to elaborate a review starting from all available sources, all considered essential for future success in the work world. The quality of the exposure, the correct use of technical terminology and the critical reasoning ability will also be assessed. The oral exam will end with a further question related to the topic of lab training, in order to verify the extent of learning.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further information available at the site: http://www.ingegneriachimica.unige.it/courses.htm