biotech online

At the onset of the Bioscience Technician Expansion Project (Grant #1800850), the investigators (P.I. Justin Tickhill and Co-P.I. Jason Tucker) from North Central State College in Mansfield, Ohio were looking at ways to meet students in a distance format. Their original goal was the pursuit of a “one course, one night” hybrid model to allow working students an opportunity to upskill in the biotechnology industry. The training received by the faculty proved invaluable during the COVID 19 pandemic shift to online courses. The researchers had gained major insight in the process of online ... Read more

Professor Doug Bruce from Laney College will talk about implementing at-home biotech kits in his introductory biotech lab class. Doug adopted kits and curriculum from The Odin, a Bay Area biotech company that sells “biohacking" kits, and provided students with all the equipment they would need to complete the labs at home. In addition, Doug will show how his students are using an electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) for collecting data.

Read more about pandemic-inspired innovation at Laney College: ... Read more

Algae have become increasingly popular in biotechnology for multiple purposes. They are used to manufacture products like nutritional supplements, oils, dyes, and textiles. Companies use algae to treat wastewater, capture carbon, and provide fertilizer. Adidas even makes a running shoe with foam from algae. Learn more about algae companies and what they do .

Speakers : Ira Levine, PhD, Professor, Natural & Applied Sciences, and Fulbright Scholar and Schonna Manning, PhD, University of Texas ... Read more

This Friday, we will have a guest speaker from the University of Washington, Center for Innate Immunity and Immune Disease, share basic concepts around vaccines. This lecture will help us prepare for a later discussion when we dive into vaccines against COVID-19 in greater detail.

Speaker : Dr. David Koelle , Center for Innate Immunity and Immune Disease, University of Washington.
Dr. Koelle studies virology and immunology, along with viral oncogenesis, tumor immunotherapy, practical vaccinology issues such as adjuvants and delivery systems ... Read more

In this webinar, we will introduce basic concepts in immunology and demonstrate how to use the Immune Epitope Database to investigate immunity to COVID-19 and gain insights into key requirements for developing antibodies and vaccines to COVID-19. We will also present an activity that students can use for a research project and investigate immunity to whatever they choose.

Speaker : Dr. Sandra Porter, Shoreline Community College, Digital World Biology, and InnovATE BIO .

Read more about ... Read more

Performing assays and testing samples is fundamental to all biotechnology workplaces, from basic research laboratories to large-scale production facilities. With the COVID-19 pandemic, diagnostic assays have entered the limelight. Last week, we discussed the use of molecular diagnostics to identify the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. This week, we will talk about testing for the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 proteins. The presence of anti-SARS-COV-2 antibodies tells us if a person has been infected.

In this webinar, we will introduce basic assay principles so that you and your ... Read more

This Friday, we will discuss the design and use of molecular diagnostic tests for detecting SARS-CoV-2, specifically, quantitative RT-PCR. This test uses Reverse transcriptase to make a copy of the novel coronavirus RNA, and fluorescent probes to measure the amount of viral RNA in a sample.

Dr. Meei-Li Huang from the Virology division at the University of Washington will join us. Dr. Huang is part of a group that has been working on the front lines since late February to evaluate quantitative PCR assays and test people for COVID-19.

We will also talk ... Read more

We've been working in this crazy situation for a few weeks now and it's time in this fifth webinar to check in and see how everyone is doing, learn about the ways you've risen to the challenge, and see how InnovATE BIO can help.

This Friday, in the first part of our session, Dr. Daiyuan (Daisy) Zhang from Del Mar College will tell us how about a strategy she devised for having her students prepare for doing research with SARS-CoV-2.

In the second part, we would like to hear from you and learn what you've been doing to adapt.

... Read more