Hands-on Laboratory Courses

Alex Procak in the lab

No matter your professional background, it’s hard to imagine learning about biotechnology without scientific laboratory courses!

That’s why the M.S. in Biotechnology Program features three molecular technologies laboratory classes where students engage in hands-on lab activities that highlight and reinforce topics and themes addressed in the program’s curriculum.

Most of the lab courses take place at the Biopharmaceutical Technology Center Institute (BTCI). The BTCI is the non-profit educational organization supported by the Promega Corporation and has been an industry partner since the M.S. in Biotechnology Program’s launch in 2002. Additional specialized lab sessions are held at the program’s Biomanufacturing Teaching Lab located in the MGE Innovation Center in University Research Park where the program’s classroom-based courses are held.

Molecular Technologies: Diagnostic Testing; Biomanufacturing; Assay Development

Year 1, Fall Semester: Technology Assessment

Students play the role of staff scientists evaluating the merits of competing molecular technologies, emphasizing effective written and oral scientific communication, genetic mutation detection, and the role of automation in biotechnology.

Class of 2023 at the BTCI lab during orientation

Year 1, Spring Semester: Product Development & Biomanufacturing

This second laboratory-intensive course explores biotechnologies with research, industrial and diagnostic applications—with emphasis on nucleic acid and protein analysis, gene cloning, and protein expression and purification on a manufacturing scale.

biomanufacturing teaching lab and protein purification class of 2020

Year 2, Fall Semester: Drug  Discovery, Commercial Development, & Product Delivery

This powerful exploration of drug-discovery topics and concepts puts students in the role of R&D scientists. Hands-on laboratory sessions cover state-of-the-art assays, methods and data analysis used in primary and advanced levels of drug screening.

BTCI molecular technologies iii class of 2021