Reading List

We often get requests for reading lists that can be read in preparation for your studies in September. However, as a postgraduate course we don’t really teach much from text books: mostly we will recommend papers to read.

Biotechnology is a broad field covering everything from the latest applied molecular biology, to the economic aspects of the commercialisation of science, and our programme, with its diverse range of optional modules, reflects this. To keep abreast of the latest developments in this wide area, we would recommend that you browse general biotechnology articles in journals such as Current Opinion in Biotechnology and Trends in Biotechnology, as well as reading the latest papers and textbooks in areas of special interest to you.

There are a few key concepts that we would hope you were fully familiar with before you start the course, as they will allow you to make full use of the new knowledge we are presenting to you.

• Much biotechnology is based on the past 50-60 years of work in molecular biology, and we would expect students to be familiar with the main concepts and techniques in this discipline.
• An understanding of how cells store information in DNA, and express that information via transcription and translation into RNA and protein, is important, basic material which we assume knowledge of when teaching concepts in the molecular manipulation of cells for biotechnology.
• We would expect some familiarity with basic cell biology and with the biology of the three domains of life (Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya), as well as with viruses, as all of these organisms are important tools for biotechnology.
• When considering how the raw materials of biology can be manipulated for technological purposes, a basic understanding of the molecular methods for the engineering of cells at the DNA level to edit genes, control expression and make recombinant proteins or organisms with novel properties will be helpful.
• It will also be useful to appreciate the different areas of biotechnology in which such techniques can be employed: these could broadly be defined as medical, environmental and industrial biotechnology, but specific examples of major and developing applications within these areas can be found by a review of recent editions of the journals listed above.

A revision of these concepts and areas of research will increase your ability to take on new material we will present.