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CHEM_ENG 470: Molecular Folding and Function


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Prerequisites

Graduate standing or consent of instructor. While there are no pre-requisites, undergraduates will be granted permission to take the course if they have sufficient biological laboratory experience and have taken Chem Eng 376 and/or Chem Eng 378.

Description

This course is an in-depth study of the current methods used to design and engineer biomolecules, with a focus on proteins and RNA. Emphasis on how strategies can be applied in the laboratory. Relevant case studies presented to illustrate method variations and applications. Intended for graduate students and upper-level undergraduates with some familiarity with basic biological concepts.

Required Textbooks:

None

 Learning Objectives:

At the end of this course, students will be able to:

  1. Discuss how a biomolecule’s function relates to its structure and therefore its primary sequence, and how the local environment (eg pH) may alter these characteristics as well as how the use context can influence the solutions proposed for its application (a biomolecule here refers to DNA, RNA, or protein);
  2. Use protein visualization software to explore the three-dimensional structure of a protein of interest;
  3. Be able to apply directed evolution and rational design methodologies as requiredto alter DNA, RNA, or protein;
  4. Describe sequence space and explain how the different molecular engineering strategies work within this space;
  5. Understand when to use combinatorial libraries and provide an experimental protocol of how one would create such a library in a laboratory setting;
  6. Describe a procedure for creating a de novo protein, and explain how desired function/goal may influence the choice of tool used to design the protein and likelihood of design success;
  7. Synthesize and communicate the main points of a technical paper in which a protein was successfully engineered.