Biological Sciences

This course offers a study of the physical, chemical and biological properties of soils. It also examines soil formation, classification, use, and conservation.

Medicine is trending towards advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP), which include biomolecules and cells, focusing on disease modification and on personal differences: personalized medicine. But a better understanding of a person’s characteristics or disease characteristics can also be exploited by repurposing of old medicines. This course studies personalized medicine at several levels: Molecular, cellular, organ, organism, and population. The course starts with an individual assignment of a recent first in class medicine and ends with group assignments on future medicines. Course topics include the latest medicines and how they were developed; Drug repurposing; Cell and gene therapy and regenerative medicine; the self; our compatibility gene; and Glycomics and related diseases. Class attendance is monitored during the six weeks of teamwork. Students who do not participate in the presentation and Q&A of their team (which is essentially an exam) or do not meet the attendance requirement do not get a grade. Previous knowledge in (bio)chemistry, cell biology, pharmacology, and immunology are required.

This course reviews the interrelationships among hormones, the brain, and behavior. Basic endocrine (hormone) system physiology is introduced and the different approaches that researchers take to address questions of hormone-behavior relationships are discussed. The focus is on three large classes of hormones: stress (cortisol), social (oxytocin, vasopressin), and sex hormones (testosterone, estradiol, progesterone). Those hormones are linked to normal behavioral processes such as memory and social behavior as well as to psychiatric conditions such as depression/anxiety and autism spectrum disorder. At the end of this course, students have developed an understanding of a selection of topics related to behavioral neuroendocrinology.

The course focuses on the microorganisms involved in the processing of fermented foods and beverages. It include the taxonomy of important microorganisms especially lactic acid bacteria and yeasts, including both phenotypic characteristics and molecular typing techniques for their identification. Fermentation is introduced as a sustainable green technology and innovative technologies to improve fermented foods and beverages are considered.

This course presents modern genetics in a specifically non-molecular context in the hope that students see that molecular biology has the potential to answer larger and more important questions rather than being simply an end in itself. Students are introduced to the genetics of a variety of creatures from peas to humans. Topics include basic Mendelism, genetic linkage and linkage maps, chromosomes, cytoplasmic inheritance, mutation and mutagenesis, quantitative genetics, family structure, population genetics, and evolutionary genetics.

The overview of knowledge in the field of stem cell science provided in this course should enable students to follow and understand the potential use of stem cells in cellular therapy, regenerative medicine, toxicity screening, and drug development. The course covers cellular mechanisms of stemness as well as the ethical, legal, and regulatory issues associated with stem cell based therapy, human embryo research, and cloning.

This course introduces students to the basic principles and molecular techniques in genetics (in the context of oncology), to develop basic competences in the planning and performance of experiments and the evaluation of results. The course consists of 6 sessions of approx. 4 hours and covers topics such as RNA isolation/purification/quantification, staining procedures, protein detection, basic bioinformatics (commonly used databases, finding gene sequences of a specific gene, design amplification primers for a specific genetic region, etc) and image analysis using online available tools. Furthermore, this course provides basic knowledge on Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and Laboratory Safety Regulations. Besides the hands-on time in the lab, each session requires preparation beforehand. Lab experience is not required, although biological and chemical background knowledge at secondary school level is recommendable for full understanding of the provided techniques. In the first lab session, pipetting skills will be trained or refreshed. Prerequisite This course is designed to be taken in combination with SCI2022 Genetics and Evolution. Students who wish to take this course should concurrently enroll in SCI2022 Genetics and Evolution or have taken SCI2022 Genetics and Evolution before.