Methods in Biotechnology E-Book

Seung-Beom Hong

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 1044

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

As rapid advances in biotechnology occur, there is a need for a pedagogical tool to aid current students and laboratory professionals in biotechnological methods; Methods in Biotechnology is an invaluable resource for those students and professionals.

Methods in Biotechnology engages the reader by implementing an active learning approach, provided advanced study questions, as well as pre- and post-lab questions for each lab protocol. These self-directed study sections encourage the reader to not just perform experiments but to engage with the material on a higher level, utilizing critical thinking and troubleshooting skills.

This text is broken into three sections based on level – Methods in Biotechnology, Advanced Methods in Biotechnology I, and Advanced Methods in Biotechnology II. Each section contains 14-22 lab exercises, with instructor notes in appendices as well as an answer guide as a part of the book companion site. This text will be an excellent resource for both students and laboratory professionals in the biotechnology field. 

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction to biotechnology lab

Lab safety

Good work habits

Lab etiquette

Lab record

Lab report and assignment

Further reading

Laboratory Schedule (Methods in Biotechnology (MB))

Laboratory Schedule (Advanced Methods in Biotechnology (AMB) 1)

Laboratory Schedule (AMB 2)

About the companion website

Part I: Methods in Biotechnology (MB) Laboratory Exercises

Chapter 1: MB experiment 1: Lab measurements

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Part I. Pipetting skill

Part II. Density and specific gravity

Procedure

Discussion

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 2: MB experiment 2: Use of the spectrophotometer and Beer's law

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Result

Discussion

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 3: MB experiment 3: Making solutions and buffer efficacy

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Part I. pH meter calibration

Part II. Making solutions (to share four groups)

Part III. Buffering capacity (addition of strong acid and strong base to buffered and unbuffered solutions)

Part IV. Dilution effect on buffer pH and buffer capacity

Discussion

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 4: MB experiment 4: Acid–base titration

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Part I. Two-point calibration of pH Meter

Part II. Titration of acetic acid with NaOH

Part III. Titration of HCl with NaOH

Part IV. Data integration

Discussion

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 5: MB experiment 5: Protein denaturation and precipitation

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Discussion

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 6: MB experiment 6: Bacterial transformation

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure (day 1)

Procedure (day 2)

Procedure (day 3)

Discussion

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 7: MB experiment 7: GFP purification

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Discussion

Further reading

Chapter 8: MB experiment 8: SDS-PAGE analysis

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Discussion

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 9: MB experiment 9: DNA isolation

Part I. Plasmid DNA isolation

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Part I. Plasmid DNA isolation

Part II. Genomic DNA isolation

Introduction

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Result

Discussion

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 10: MB experiment 10: PCR-based Alu-human DNA typing

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Part E. Viewing and photography

Result

Discussion

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 11: MB experiment 11: Restriction enzyme digestion

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Chapter 12: MB experiment 12: Agarose gel electrophoresis

Introduction

Procedure

Result

Discussion

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 13: MB experiment 13: Ouchterlony and ELISA immunoassays

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Part I. Ouchterlony (double diffusion) assay

Part II. ELISA assay

Result

Discussion

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 14: MB experiment 14: Testing plant substances for antimicrobial activity

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Result

Discussion

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 15: MB experiment 15: Peroxidase enzyme activity assay

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Results

Discussion

Post-lab assignment

References

Part II: Advanced Methods in Biotechnology (AMB) 1 Laboratory Exercises

chapter 16: AMB 1 experiment 16: Aseptic technique and culture handling

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

chapter 17: AMB 1 experiment 17: Yeast culture media preparation

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

chapter 18: AMB 1 experiment 18: Growth curve

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 19: AMB 1 experiment 19: Mini plasmid prep

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure (adapted from QIAprep miniprep kit)

Post-lab assignment

Additional information

References

Further reading

Chapter 20: AMB 1 experiment 20: Restriction digestion, purification, concentration, and quantification of DNA

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 21: AMB 1 experiment 21: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Post-lab assignment

Additional background information

Further reading

Chapter 22: AMB 1 experiment 22: TA, blunt end, SLIC, and CPEC cloning of PCR product

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure (day 1)

Procedure (day 2)

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 23: AMB 1 experiment 23: One-step multifragment assembly cloning

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure (day 1)

Procedure (day 2)

Procedure (day 3)

J. Screening of transformants

Post-lab assignment

References

Further reading

Chapter 24: AMB 1 experiment 24: Restriction enzyme digestion and fast agarose gel electrophoresis

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Post-lab assignment

Additional background information

References

Further reading

chapter 25: AMB 1 experiment 25: Southern blot transfer

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure (day 1)

Procedure (day 2)

Post-lab assignment

Reference

Further reading

Chapter 26: AMB 1 experiment 26: Probe labeling and purification

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 27: AMB 1 experiment 27: Dot blot assay

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 28: AMB 1 experiment 28: Pre-hybridization, hybridization, and detection

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 29: AMB 1 experiment 29: Total yeast RNA isolation and RT-PCR

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure (adapted from SV total isolation kit, Promega and verso one-step RT PCR Kit, Life technologies)

Post-lab assignment

References

Further reading

Chapter 30: AMB 1 experiment 30: Yeast-based in vivo recombination cloning

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Part I. Isolation of overlapping DNA fragments (day 1)

Part II. Yeast transformation (day 2)

Further reading

Chapter 31: AMB 1 experiment 31: Plasmid DNA isolation from yeast

Introduction

Materials and equipment

Procedure

References

Chapter 32: AMB 1 experiment 32: E. coli transformation with yeast plasmid DNA

Introduction

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 33: AMB 1 experiment 33: X-gal filter lift assay

Introduction

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 34: AMB 1 experiment 34: Protein quantitation assay

Introduction

Part I. Bradford assay

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Part II. Lowry assay

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Part III. BCA assay

Material and equipment

Procedure

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 35: AMB 1 experiment 35: Quantitative β-Galactosidase assay in yeast

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Part I. Permeabilized cell assay

Part II. Cell-free protein extract assay

Post-lab assignment

Reference

Further reading

Chapter 36: AMB 1 experiment 36: Gel filtration chromatography (GFC)

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 37: AMB 1 experiment 37: Ion exchange chromatography (IEC)

Background

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Part III: Advanced Methods in Biotechnology (AMB) 2 Laboratory Exercises

Chapter 38: AMB 2 experiment 38: E. coli culture media preparation

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 39: AMB 2 experiment 39: Site-directed mutagenesis

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 40: AMB 2 experiment 40: Protein expression in E. coli

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Part I. Restriction sequence/ligation-dependent cloning

Part II. Restriction sequence/ligation-independent cloning)

Procedure

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 41: AMB 2 experiment 41: Protein purification by affinity column chromatography

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Part I. Protein expression and cell harvest (TA will do this part)

Part II. Cell lysate preparation and affinity column chromatography

Part III. Small-scale quick batch method (optional)

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 42: AMB 2 experiment 42: SDS-PAGE analysis of affinity column fractions

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Part I. Protein concentration and buffer exchange

Part II. Sodium dodecyl sulfate/poly acrylamide gel electrophoresis

Part III. Protein blotting on to protran® nitrocellulose membrane

Post-lab assignment

Reference

Further reading

Chapter 43: AMB 2 experiment 43: Western blot analysis of affinity column fractions

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Part I. Blot transfer (day 1)

Part II. Antibody detection (day 2)

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 44: AMB 2 experiment 44: Yeast media preparation and phenotypic analysis of yeast strains

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Part I. Media preparation

Part II. Single colony isolation (quadrant streaking)

Part III. Phenotype Verification

Discussion

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 45: AMB 2 experiment 45: Yeast transformation for yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) assay and genome editing by CRISPR-Cas system

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Part I. LiAc-mediated transformation for Y2H assay

Part II. LiAc-mediated transformation for genome editing

Post-lab assignment

References

Further reading

Chapter 46: AMB 2 experiment 46: Yeast mating-mediated Y2H assay and genomic PCR

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Part I. Y2H assay

Part II. Yeast genomic PCR

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 47: AMB 2 experiment 47: Yeast colony PCR screening and cycle DNA sequencing

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Part I. Yeast colony PCR

Part II. Cycle sequencing

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 48: AMB 2 experiment 48: DNA sequencing electrophoresis

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Part I. Clean-up of DNA sequencing samples

Part II. Capillary electrophoresis using ABI 3500xL DNA analyzer

Part III. Review sequencing results

Part IV. Editing chromatogram sequence and exporting sequence data

Part V. Data analysis using multiple sequence alignment program clustal omega

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 49: AMB 2 experiment 49: RNA interference

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure (day 1)

Part I. LiAc-mediated transformation

Procedure (day 2)

Part II. Growth test

Post-lab assignment

Reference

Further reading

Chapter 50: AMB 2 experiment 50: Protein preparation for 2D gel electrophoresis

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Chapter 51: AMB 2 experiment 51: Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis

Introduction

Pre-lab assignment

Materials and equipment

Procedure (Day 1)

Part I. Rehydration of IPG DryStrip (instructor will do this part)

Procedure (day 2)

Part II. Rehydration of proteins

Part III. First dimension (IEF)

Procedure (Day 3)

Part IV. Preparation of buffers and chemicals

Part V. Equilibration of IPG strips

Part VI. Second dimension (SDS-PAGE)

Post-lab assignment

Further reading

Part IV: Appendices

Methods in Biotechnology Appendix 1

Instructor notes of MB experiment 1

Instructor notes of MB experiment 2

Instructor notes of MB experiment 3

Instructor notes of MB experiment 4

Instructor notes of MB experiment 5

Instructor notes of MB experiment 6

Instructor notes of MB experiment 7

Instructor notes of MB experiment 8

Instructor notes of MB experiment 9

Instructor notes of MB experiments 10, 11, and 12

Instructor notes of MB experiment 13

Instructor notes of MB experiments 14 and 15

MB Appendix 2

MB lab math practice problem set

MB Appendix 3

Answers to MB lab math practice problem set

MB Appendix 4

Commonly used buffer tables (MB)

0.1 M tris buffer

1 M tris buffer

0.1 M acetate buffer

0.1 M phosphate buffer

AMB 1 Appendix 1

Instructor notes of AMB 1 experiments 16 and 17

Instructor notes of AMB 1 experiments 18 and 19

Instructor notes of AMB 1 experiments 20 and 21

Instructor notes of AMB 1 experiment 22

Instructor notes of AMB 1 experiment 23

Instructor's notes of AMB 1 experiments 23.I, 24, 25, and 26

Instructor notes of AMB 1 experiments 27 and 28.A and B

Instructor notes of AMB 1 experiments 28.C and 30.A and B

Instructor notes of AMB 1 experiment 29

Instructor notes of AMB 1 experiments 30. C and D, 31, and 32

Instructor notes of AMB 1 experiments 33 and 34

Instructor notes of AMB 1 experiment 35

Instructor notes of AMB 1 experiments 36 and 37

AMB 1 Appendix 2

AMB 1 Lab math practice problem set

AMB 1 Appendix 3

Answers to AMB 1 Lab math practice problem set

Part I. Metric unit conversion

Part II. Dilution

Part III. Percent solution

Part IV. Ratio and proportions

Part V. Mole and molarity

Part VI. Applications

AMB 1 Appendix 4

Band Quantification by ImageJ Program

AMB 1 Appendix 5

Distributor addresses

AMB 2 Appendix 1

Instructor notes of AMB 2 experiment 38

Common materials and equipment

Instructor notes of AMB 2 experiment 39

Instructor notes of AMB 2 experiment 40

Instructor notes of AMB 2 experiment 41

Instructor notes of AMB 2 experiments 42 and 43A

Instructor notes of AMB 2 experiment 43.B and 44

Instructor notes of AMB 2 experiment 45

Instructor notes of AMB 2 experiment 46

Instructor notes of AMB 2 experiment 47

Instructor notes of AMB 2 experiments 48 and 49

Instructor notes of AMB 2 experiment 50

Instructor notes of AMB 2 experiment 51

AMB 2 Appendix 2

AMB 2 Lab math practice problem set

AMB 2 Appendix 3

Answers to AMB 2 Lab math practice problem set

AMB 2 Appendix 4

Colony counting with ImageJ program

AMB 2 Appendix 5

Bacteria and yeast genetic nomenclature

Further reading

AMB 2 Appendix 6

Plasmid maps

AMB 2 Appendix 7

Distributor addresses

Glossary

Abbreviations

Index

End User License Agreement

Pages

vii

ix

xi

xii

xiii

xiv

xv

xvi

xvii

xviii

xix

1

3

4

5

6

7

9

10

11

12

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

37

38

39

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

57

58

59

60

63

64

65

67

68

69

70

70

73

74

75

77

78

79

80

81

83

84

85

86

87

88

89

90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109

111

112

113

114

117

118

119

121

122

123

125

126

127

128

129

131

132

133

134

135

136

137

139

140

141

142

143

144

145

146

147

148

149

150

151

152

153

155

156

157

158

159

161

162

163

164

165

166

167

169

171

172

173

175

176

177

178

179

180

181

182

183

184

185

186

187

188

189

190

191

192

193

194

195

196

197

199

200

201

202

203

203

204

205

206

207

209

210

211

212

213

215

216

217

218

219

221

222

223

224

225

227

228

229

230

231

232

233

234

235

237

238

239

240

241

242

243

244

245

246

247

248

249

250

251

252

252

255

256

257

258

259

260

261

262

263

265

266

267

268

269

271

272

273

274

275

276

277

278

279

280

281

282

283

284

285

286

287

288

289

290

291

292

293

294

295

297

299

300

301

302

303

304

305

306

307

308

309

310

311

313

314

315

316

317

319

320

321

322

323

325

330

335

336

337

338

Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

Preface

Part I: Methods in Biotechnology (MB) Laboratory Exercises

Begin Reading

Methods in Biotechnology

Seung-Beom Hong

M. Bazlur Rashid

Lory Z. Santiago-Vázquez

Copyright © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permission.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

For general information on our other products and services or for technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at [phone], outside the United States at [phone] or fax [phone].

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic formats. For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.wiley.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data applied for.

Cover image: Courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Preface

Biotechnology is one of the fastest growing fields of science and industry and is proving to be very promising in the twenty-first century, going along with new advances in automated instrumentation and the emerging synergy among genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and bioinformatics. New products based on discoveries through research and development continue to transform the way we live. Because biotechnology makes use of living organisms or their products for the benefit of humans and the environment, it has several subdisciplines depending on the type of research organism or system being studied. Whatever the source organism or system, it remains an experimental science where most basic and applied researches are performed in the laboratory until they are translated into commercial or publishable products approved by regulatory agencies. It is therefore vital that students of future biotech scientists become familiar with the up-to-date experimental methods, experimental designs, and data analyses. Employers, both in industry and academia, have a preference for a qualified workforce with good hands-on laboratory experience and who can work together as part of a team with good critical thinking complemented by good communication skills. This course is designed to address such transferable knowledge, skills, and ability by adopting an inquiry-based self-directed active learning approach to the laboratory-intensive course.

This manual is based on a 15-week semester schedule with a four-hour laboratory session per week. However, it also can be used for a 10-week quarter schedule by selecting appropriate lab exercises at the discretion of instructors. The lab exercises were developed for the core graduate curriculum of the Biotechnology Program at the University of Houston Clear Lake. Students take three biotechnology core laboratory courses, named Methods in Biotechnology (MB) and Advanced Methods in Biotechnology (AMB) 1 and 2. The MB course is a prerequisite to two other AMB 1 and 2 courses. Each lab or more than one lab exercise can be finished within four hours. We offered this laboratory course in the afternoon or evening so that the instructor can begin incubation in the morning to prepare cultures and other laboratory materials. The course content can be tailored to suit the need of the individual instructor. Throughout the experiments, time-saving procedures were implemented in order to complete them within the time period, though students often need to observe results and collect data after overnight or several days of incubation to check their plates. Although we have successfully used protocols in laboratory exercises, we do not claim that they are flawless. They may need modifications in response to new technological innovations and some other changing needs.

Study assignments (pre-lab and post-lab questions) are listed in each lab protocol to help students prepare for each laboratory session and apply knowledge to solve its related problems. This self-directed study will encourage students to extend their knowledge from simply performing experiments to a higher level of critical thinking and troubleshooting. The purpose of each experiment is also intentionally not given to promote the student thinking. It is important that students prepare in advance so that they can clearly understand the protocols and concepts while they are doing the experiments. Lack of preparation will increase the time spent performing experiments as well as the chances of making careless mistakes. We have experienced the difference between prepared and unprepared student groups in terms of the time they spend completing the exercises successfully. Data tables are provided to aid in data collection and step-by-step procedures for data analysis are described in detail.

Throughout the lab exercises we have used the two most widely used model organisms, Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, because not only are they much easier and safer to handle compared to other organisms but they are also applicable to diverse cellular and molecular biology experiments. The concept and principle underlying each experiment are explained in the introduction part, and sometimes additional background information on specific details is provided at the end of a protocol. In order to understand how an experiment works, it is important to know what materials and equipment are used. The reagents and microbiological strains required for each experiment are listed at the beginning of each experiment. We often mentioned specific brand names of reagents because we have had satisfactory experiences with those products; however, comparable products from competitor companies can also be used, allowing the users to work within their budget or personal preferences.

To facilitate preparedness and instruction of this course, we have provided detailed notes for instructors in Appendix 1 sections. We also have included laboratory schedules outlining the individual experiments we have performed in each lab session. This requires very labor-intensive teaching and supervision. It is a great advantage to both the prospective employers and students if the students learn as much as possible before entering the workforce. The schedules will be helpful, especially when instructors want to choose certain experiments tailored to their own needs at their discretion. In Appendix 2 sections, we have included a lab math practice problem set for the students to master laboratory mathematics skills because these skills are crucial for success in experiments conducted by technicians and bench scientists.

Acknowledgements

The authors express their gratitude to the reviewers: Dr. Om V. Singh at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Stephen C. Kempf at Auburn University, and Dr. Kathleen M. Susman at Vassar College. We also express our gratitude to the editors of John Wiley & Sons, Dr. Gregor Chicchetti, Senior Commissioning Editor; Mindy Okura-Marszycki, Senior Acquisitions Editor; and Stephanie Dollan, Senior Editorial Assistant for reviewing process. We greatly appreciate Dorathy Steve who managed to coordinate all the schedules in time throughout the publishing process and Patricia Bateson, who read every word of the text, for editing process.

Although we do not endorse the particular products of any company over others, we are grateful to the Agilent Technologies, Thermo Fisher Scientific, GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences, Takara-Clontech Laboratories, and New England BioLabs companies that allowed us to use their photo images and illustrations related to the materials used for laboratory exercises.

The development of this course would not have been possible without the undivided support from Dr. Larry H. Rode, Division Chair for Natural Sciences at the University of Houston Clear Lake. We especially thank Dr. Stephens Brian for editing equipment operation protocols and teaching assistants and staffs at UHCL Department of Biotechnology who helped make this course work run smoothly in a timely manner.

Introduction to biotechnology lab

To work in biotechnology requires you to perform experiments using a variety of biochemicals, tools, and instruments and record your result data. The quality of work is more important than the quantity of work to generate a reliable and acceptable product of new findings as a result of scientific research experiments. Regardless of the work environment, attention to detail is particularly important to work in a professional manner for carrying out procedures using necessary equipment and instruments correctly. During this process, you must also keep to safety rules that deal with potential risks and hazards associated with output and input materials of each experiment. Lab safety influences lab productivity because quality work is highly dependent on both safe performance and health status of workers. Unsafe performance or operational activity is a leading cause of the loss of or damage to laboratory resources. Perhaps one of the most important elements of Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) is the accurate documentation of written records. However, injuries or illness caused by neglecting precautionary safety measures will in turn have a negative impact on the investigator's mental and physical activities for written records. Safety should be a priority always regardless of the experiment. Because science is a very human activity, workers should maintain the integrity in conducting experiments and reporting scientific findings. Accordingly, you should familiarize yourself with safety issues and take necessary measures to prevent work-related injuries and incidents. In addition, you should also practice good work habits along with lab etiquette to promote a cheerful and productive working atmosphere. The compiled lists of lab safety, good work habits, lab etiquette, and record keeping guidelines, which are routinely practiced by skilled workers, are described in the following pages.