Microbiology at Northumbria

This module will provide you with an opportunity to develop your skills in the use and understanding of relevant literature and in both quantitative and qualitative methods. You will learn how to evaluate and contribute to the scientific literature and to interpret and disseminate scientific information. You will appreciate the desirable properties of research design and be able to select an experimental design appropriate to a given system and create the design matrix. You will learn how to assess the kinds of scientific data and tests of hypotheses and will be able to select, apply, and interpret the output from statistical methods of data analysis, and to evaluate the results of statistical analyses as applied to a given data set. Using contemporary science stories, you will develop scientific communication skills in systematic searching, summary writing and critical analysis of primary research.

You will learn to evaluate recent developments in molecular biology in the context of the new techniques that have been developed, which will be assessed by an online test, demonstrate an ability to perform skilled laboratory techniques in a competent and safe manner, which is assessed by practical report, and evaluate laboratory results in the form of a scientific paper, which is assessed by practical report. You will also learn to demonstrate an awareness of the wider social and political implications of the topics covered in the module.

You will learn about the impact of microbes (including viruses) on human health, with a particular emphasis on selected microbial diseases of major global significance. The emphasis is on furthering understanding of the epidemiology and pathogenesis of microbial disease, with further consideration of how these relate to diagnosis, treatment and strategies for disease prevention. The module content will have strong links to the research expertise of the module team.
As indicative content, suitable topics will likely include the biology of some of the following diseases: tuberculosis and other major mycobacterial diseases (leprosy; buruli ulcer); streptococcal pathogens; malaria; HIV and Hepatitis C virus; cholera as a representative diarrhoeal disease; chlamydia as a major sexually transmitted disease and a cause of blinding trachoma; polymicrobial infections.

You will learn the importance of microbes in biotechnology, in particular organisms that produce therapeutic and commercially significant compounds. You will also learn about how viruses impact on the microbial communities in the environment and clinical setting. You will study in detail the diverse habitats that bacteria and viruses are isolated from such as deep-sea sediments, the Mir space station and desert sand, as well as the explorative techniques required for isolating bioactive microorganisms and the taxonomic approaches that are undertaken to characterise the producers of commercially significant products.
Underpinning theoretical concepts and principles will be covered in a lecture course that will be informed, illustrated and applied through a strong practical element. You will be trained in basic techniques that you will then have to utilise to solve ‘real life’ research project revolving around the selective isolation and identification of micro-organisms.

This module will provide you with an opportunity to develop your skills in the use and understanding of relevant literature and in both quantitative and qualitative methods. You will learn how to evaluate and contribute to the scientific literature and to interpret and disseminate scientific information. You will appreciate the desirable properties of research design and be able to select an experimental design appropriate to a given system and create the design matrix. You will learn how to assess the kinds of scientific data and tests of hypotheses and will be able to select, apply, and interpret the output from statistical methods of data analysis, and to evaluate the results of statistical analyses as applied to a given data set. Using contemporary science stories, you will develop scientific communication skills in systematic searching, summary writing and critical analysis of primary research.

You will learn to evaluate recent developments in molecular biology in the context of the new techniques that have been developed, which will be assessed by an online test, demonstrate an ability to perform skilled laboratory techniques in a competent and safe manner, which is assessed by practical report, and evaluate laboratory results in the form of a scientific paper, which is assessed by practical report. You will also learn to demonstrate an awareness of the wider social and political implications of the topics covered in the module.

You will learn about the impact of microbes (including viruses) on human health, with a particular emphasis on selected microbial diseases of major global significance. The emphasis is on furthering understanding of the epidemiology and pathogenesis of microbial disease, with further consideration of how these relate to diagnosis, treatment and strategies for disease prevention. The module content will have strong links to the research expertise of the module team.
As indicative content, suitable topics will likely include the biology of some of the following diseases: tuberculosis and other major mycobacterial diseases (leprosy; buruli ulcer); streptococcal pathogens; malaria; HIV and Hepatitis C virus; cholera as a representative diarrhoeal disease; chlamydia as a major sexually transmitted disease and a cause of blinding trachoma; polymicrobial infections.

You will learn the importance of microbes in biotechnology, in particular organisms that produce therapeutic and commercially significant compounds. You will also learn about how viruses impact on the microbial communities in the environment and clinical setting. You will study in detail the diverse habitats that bacteria and viruses are isolated from such as deep-sea sediments, the Mir space station and desert sand, as well as the explorative techniques required for isolating bioactive microorganisms and the taxonomic approaches that are undertaken to characterise the producers of commercially significant products.
Underpinning theoretical concepts and principles will be covered in a lecture course that will be informed, illustrated and applied through a strong practical element. You will be trained in basic techniques that you will then have to utilise to solve ‘real life’ research project revolving around the selective isolation and identification of micro-organisms.