MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY

MBB 309W- 4
Biochemistry Laboratory
Spring 2011

Instructor: Dr. I. Kovalyova Office: SSB 8146 ikovalyo@sfu.ca

Description/topics:
General Course Description:
The purpose of this W (writing) intensive laboratory course is to introduce students to
fundamental techniques used in modern biochemistry labs. An important component of this
course is the craft of scientific writing with the focus on its three aspects – basic writing
skills, preparing a professional manuscript, and interpreting research data. In addition to the
“hands-on” learning in the biochemistry laboratory, students will practice critically evaluating
scientific data. The lecture component of the course will explore the scientific background to
the laboratory experiments and provide some writing support.
2 lecture hours/week; 0 tutorial hours/week; 4 lab hours/week

Laboratory Schedule:
Week Topic
1 Check-in, Orientation, Buffer Preparation
2 Protein Quantitation
3 Immunoprecipitation
4 SDS-PAGE, Immunoblotting
5 Immunocytochemistry
6 Lipid Isolation and Analysis
7 Protein Purification
8 Protein Purification
9 Protein Purification
10 Affinity Chromatography
12 Affinity Chromatography – Check-out
13 Final Quiz
Note: Experiments are subject to change

Grading: Final Quiz 20%

Lab Work 10%
Weekly Quizzes 20%
Lab Reports 30%
W Assignments 20%

Required texts: Laboratory Manual will be provided.

Recommended texts:
Hacker, Diana, Douglas P. Downs, and Barbara Fister. Canadian Writer’s Reference
Research Pack. Bedford/St. Martins: 2006. ISBN 0312459815
Boyer, Rodney. Biochemistry Laboratory: Modern Theory and Techniques. Benjamin
Cummings: 2005. ISBN 0-8053-4613-8.
Gillen, Christopher M., Reading Primary Literature: A Practical Guide to Evaluating
Research Articles in Biology. Pearson, Benjamin Cummings: 2007.

Materials/supplies: Safety goggles (required)

Lab coat (required)
Prerequisite/corequisite: Prerequisites: CHEM 282 and MBB 222. It is recommended that CHEM 215 and CHEM 286
precede MBB 309.
Notes: A non-refundable fee of $15.00 will be assessed for materials.

"Students requiring accommodations as a result of a disability, must contact the Centre for Students with Disabilities (778-782-3112 or e-
mail: csdo@sfu.ca)."
All students are subject to and responsible for being familiar with the SFU academic integrity policy which can be found on-line at
http://students.sfu.ca/academicintegrity/index.html
Students are advised to review the plagiarism tutorial found at
http://www.lib.sfu.ca/help/tutorials/plagiarism-tutorial
For help with writing, learning and study strategies please contact the Student Learning Commons at
http://learningcommons.sfu.ca/