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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2023/2024

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Engineering : Chemical

Undergraduate Course: Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering 5 (CHEE11030)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Engineering CollegeCollege of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Year 5 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryThis course will be divided in two sections. The two sections will be focused on upstream (Section A) and downstream (Section B) bioprocessing concepts respectively.
The objective the Section A of the course is to provide the students with the necessary insight of the fundamentals of biocatalysis, fermentation and bioreactor engineering design, for the production of high value bio-products.
The objective of section B of the course is to provide the students with the necessary insight of the fundamental principles and common practice of downstream operations to enable recovery and purification of biologics and high value products.
The students will learn to apply the key principles of mass and energy balances in an integrated bioprocess, as well as the novel techniques used for the manufacture of safe and effective biological materials.
The course will link with basic engineering material gained in the first 3 years of studies, and is specially designed to be a continuation of the second year course of "Introduction to Biochemical Engineering 2".
Knowledge of previous ChemEng courses will be reinforced and applied, in specific:
- Mathematics
- Thermodynamics,
- Unit operations
- Reaction engineering
- Separation processes
- Solids Processing
- Heat, Mass and Momentum Transport
The material is delivered in a mixture of lectures, case studies and novel practical activities.
Course description The topics included in section A are outlined below:
- Introduction and Advanced concepts in biocatalysis and metabolic engineering
- Novel trends in Advanced Bioreactor Design and Scale-up
- Scaling Down: Mini-bioreactors, Microfluidics and High-throughput Automated Biochemical Engineering Platforms
- New trends in bioreactor design: disposable bioreactors for mammalian cells and and biologics production
- Synthetic biology : applying engineering principles to the design of biological systems.
- Advanced tools in bioinformatics and bioprocess optimization

The topics included in section B are outlined below:
- General purification strategy
- Properties of biomolecules relevant to downstream bioprocessing
- Cell disruption and flocculation
- Sedimentation and Centrifugation
- Filtration and membrane separations: Microfiltration, Ultrafiltration, Diafiltration
- Liquid chromatography: principles of liquid adsorption, adsorbents in the bioprocessing industry, theory of chromatography
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesIntroduction to Biochemical Engineering, or Biochemistry Introduction
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2023/24, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 20, Feedback/Feedforward Hours 10, Formative Assessment Hours 2, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 64 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 100 %, Coursework 0 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Written exam 100%
Feedback TopHat quizzes (not part of the formal assessment) will be provided to allow students to test their knowledge on selected topics.

Problems will be suggested in self-study materials. Students who attempt these will be able to assess their progress when solutions are uploaded, and discussed them during surgery hour.
Students will be given the opportunity to discuss the course material and the coursework assignment in small groups, which will allow them to seek peer feedback on their progress.
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May)2:00
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Apply process engineering principles (mass transfer, thermodynamics and kinetics) to biological systems
  2. Describe, analyse and design bioprocesses at the industrial scale
  3. Understand the differences in bioreactor design depending on the bioproduct synthetized and required cell type (bacteria, yeast, algae and mammalian cells)
  4. Know how to exploit chemical and physical properties of biomolecules to drive their isolation and purification
  5. Appreciate cutting-edge research in bioinformatics, synthetic biology and bioseparation engineering
Reading List
No specific textbook is required but students may find it helpful to consult:

No specific textbook is required but students may find it helpful to consult:

- Practical Fermentation Technology. McNeil B., Harvey L., Wiley
- Principles of Bioprocess Engineering, P.M. Doran
- Principles of Biochemistry; Lehninger. Nelson D.L., Cox M., Omega
- Advances in Biochemical Engineering Biotechnology, Editor: T. Scheper
- Bioseparations Science and Engineerin, R.G. Harrison, P.W. Todd, S.R. Ridge and D.P. Petrides, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, 2015
- Bioseparations Engineering, M.R. Ladisch, Wiley
- Principles of Bioseparations Engineering, R. Ghosh, Wiley
- Protein Chromatography, G. Carta & A. Jungbauer, Wiley
- Fundamentals of Preparative and Nonlinear Chromatographyh, G. Guiochon, Academic Press

In addition, students may find it helpful to consult a biology/biochemistry textbook such as:

- Biochemistry, Berg et al., W.H. Freeman
- Molecular Biology of the Cell, Alberts et al., Garland Science
These are available in the University library.

The following websites will also be useful for content related to synthetic biology and bioinformatics
https://www.benchling.com/


- Reference will also be made to scientific papers that can be accessed through university subscriptions to journals or on an open access basis.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsBioprocess design,biochemical engineering,fermentation,synthetic biology,downstream processing
Contacts
Course organiserDr Simone Dimartino
Tel: (0131 6)50 5598
Email: Simone.Dimartino@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMrs Shona Barnet
Tel: (0131 6)51 7715
Email: Shona.Barnet@ed.ac.uk
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