Course Description: 

The purpose of the course is to introduce the students to basic techniques in molecular biology, including genetic engineering. Beginning with an introduction to the biological significance of DNA and the fundamentals of good laboratory practices, students will become familiar with: purification and characterization of nucleic acids; cloning vectors, enzymes used in DNA cloning, and E. coli host strains; principles of restriction mapping, recombinant library construction, and the polymerase chain reaction; production and use of nucleic acid probes in hybridization to filter-immobilized DNA. Students will be instructed in the biochemical and biological concepts involved in the selected molecular biology techniques so that, at the completion of the course, students will have the ability to work through technical problems in this 'kit-oriented' era, and to assimilate new techniques as they arise.