Purpose and Program Characteristics The purpose of the Applied Biology and Biotechnology training program is to provide a curriculum and research environment that prepares trainees in chemical and bioengineering, biological chemistry, cell and molecular biology at the predoctoral level for careers in biotechnology. Specifically, this program focuses on research training in areas relevant to the needs of biotechnology, pharmaceutical and chemical companies currently involved in the manufacture of products using biological routes. Trainees acquire expertise in areas such as molecular genetics, bacterial, yeast and fungal fermentation, mammalian cell culture, enzyme technology, bioproduct recovery and purification, combinatorial biocatalysis and chemistry, and biomedical applications of materials science and bioengineering. The graduate program includes laboratory and classroom instruction in cell culture techniques (mammalian and bacteria cell culture), protein and enzyme isolation, purification and immobilization, mutagenesis and gene expression, protein and nucleic acid chemistry and biochemistry, separation and purification methods, biosensors and bioinformatics. This is supplemented with seminar courses on topics spanning industrial research and development activities and advanced scientific areas, including fermentations involving recombinant organisms, tissue engineering, bioproduct recovery (including macromolecular separations), site-directed mutagenesis techniques, metabolic regulation, enzyme inhibitor design and the application of enzymes and antibodies as catalysts in organic syntheses. Lectures from internationally known scientists in a variety of related disciplines further enrich the training program. Research is conducted in the various areas described above under the supervision of the faculty mentors. Students also undertake an industrial internship during the course of their traineeship, typically at Bay Area biotechnology companies. Trainees Predoctoral students will enter the program with varying backgrounds, all holding Baccalaureate degrees in engineering or science (some with Masters degrees), and some with previous industrial experience. They will be selected on the basis of undergraduate scholastic performance, scores on GRE tests, recommendations from faculty at their undergraduate institutions and from their Berkeley mentors. Support for 12 trainees is requested. The average duration of the doctoral program in the participating departments is 5.5 years.
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