CELLULAR, MOLECULAR AND THERAPEUTIC TECHNOLOGIES - BIOLOGY, GENOMICS, HUMAN AND MEDICAL GENETICS

Module TECNOLOGIE CELLULARI, MOLECOLARI - BIOLOGIA E GENOMICA

1) Knowledge and understanding
At the end of the course, the student will have to demonstrate knowledge of the theoretical and experimental
bases of the main cellular and molecular technologies. The student will have to demonstrate to know in general
terms the main technologies for the study of genomics and epigenomics and to apply the latter for the integrated
study of the cell and living organisms purposes of translability.

2) Practical application of acquired knowledge
At the end of the course, the student must be able to identify the essential elements of a biological experiment
and hypothesize the best technologies for carrying it out.

The course is organized in 35 hours of frontal teaching through lessons with the help of slides and videos and 12
hours of laboratory exercise. Theoretical-practical activities and exercises organized with the support of tutors If
the teaching is given in mixed mode or at a distance, the necessary variations may be introduced with respect to
what was previously declared, in order to comply with the program provided and reported in the syllabus.The
course is organized in 35 hours of frontal teaching through lessons with the help of slides and videos and 12 hours of
laboratory exercise. Theoretical-practical activities and exercises organized with the support of tutors If the teaching is
given in mixed mode or at a distance, the necessary variations may be introduced with respect to what was previously
declared, in order to comply with the program provided and reported in the syllabus.

Knowledge of the structure and function of cells, genome and cellular epigenome

Mandatory attendance

· CELL BIOLOGY TECHNIQUES: - setting up and life of a cell culture - cultures of primary and immortalized cell
lines - techniques of transfection of mammalian cells by physical and chemical methods - general principles of
microscopy · MOLECULAR TECHNIQUES: · NUCLEIC ACID ANALYSIS AND SEPARATION TECHNIQUES
Extraction and purification of nucleic acids from cell lines, biological fluids and biopsies Spectrophotometric
techniques for DNA and RNA analysis · CLONING VECTORS - definition and role of the main components of
prokaryotic plasmids and eukaryotics. · QUANTIFICATION OF GENE EXPRESSION BY PCR AND REAL-TIME
PCR Low- and high-throughput methods and data analysis · QUANTIFICATION OF GENE EXPRESSION BY
ddPCR · METHODS FOR THE STUDY OF DNA METHYLATION Non-specific methods Specific methods DNA
modifications with bisulfite Pyrosequencing · METHODS FOR THE STUDY OF HISTONE MODIFICATIONS Chip
Sites hypersensitive to nucleases · TECHNIQUES FOR THE STUDY OF NON-CODING RNAs microRNAs,
circRNAs and lncRNAs Identification of ncRNA through in vitro and in silico methods NcRNA extraction and
analysis · INTERACTIONS BETWEEN BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES RNA binding proteins Interactions
between RBPs and ncRNAs Physical and functional interactions between ncRNAs · BIOINFORMATICS
ANALYSIS FOR THE STUDY OF GENOMES AND TRANSCRIPTOMES · MOLECULAR EVOLUTION OF
GENES AND GENOMES · LABORATORY EXERCISES

Francesco Amaldi, Piero Benedetti, Graziano Pesole, Paolo Plevani. Tecniche e metodi per la biologia molecolare
Zanichelli 2021
Massimo Romani. Epigenetica Zanichelli 2022

The test consists of an interview in which 3 questions will be asked that focus on at least 3 different
topics of the program. The test allows to verify: i) the level of knowledge of the integrated study of the cell and
living organisms, as well as of advanced biomolecular technologies, including recombinant technologies and the
use of transgenic animals, and of classical and molecular genetics; ii) the ability to apply this knowledge for the
resolution of specific problems inherent in the study of Biology and Genomics (problem solving and autonomy of
judgment); (iii) clarity of presentation; iv) the property of scientific language. For the assignment of the final grade,
the following parameters will be taken into account: Grade 29-30 laude: the student has an in-depth knowledge of
Biology and Genomics, can promptly and correctly integrate and critically analyze the situations presented,
independently solving problems even of high complexity; has excellent communication skills and masters
scientific language. Grade 26-28: the student has a good knowledge of Biology and Genomics, manages to
integrate and analyze in a critical and linear way the situations presented, manages to solve complex problems
quite autonomously and exposes the topics clearly using an appropriate scientific language; Grade 22-25: the
student has a good knowledge of Biology and Genomics, although limited to the main topics; manages to
integrate and analyze in a critical but not always linear way the situations presented and exposes the arguments
in a fairly clear way with a discrete language property; Grade 18-21: the student has the minimum knowledge of
Biology and Genomics, has a modest ability to integrate and critically analyze the situations presented and
exposes the topics in a sufficiently clear way although the property of language is poorly developed; Exam not
passed: the student does not have the minimum required knowledge of the main contents of the course. The
ability to use the specific language is very little or nothing and is not able to independently apply the acquired
knowledge. The assessment of learning can also be carried out electronically, if the conditions require it.

Describe the main nucleic acid purification techniques Describe the main cell culture techniques What is the
transfection technique and how it can be used to deduce the function of a gene Main techniques used for the
study of epigenetics Bioinformatics applications for the study of the evolution of a genome