Unit ADVANCED TECHNIQUES

Course
Molecular and industrial biotechnology
Study-unit Code
55A02112
Curriculum
In all curricula
Teacher
Paolo Foggi
CFU
12
Course Regulation
Coorte 2021
Offered
2021/22
Type of study-unit
Obbligatorio (Required)
Type of learning activities
Attività formativa integrata

COMPLEX BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS

Code A001553
CFU 6
Teacher Pier Luigi Gentili
Teachers
  • Pier Luigi Gentili
Hours
  • 42 ore - Pier Luigi Gentili
Learning activities Caratterizzante
Area Discipline chimiche
Academic discipline CHIM/02
Type of study-unit Obbligatorio (Required)
Language of instruction Italian
Contents Natural Complexity and Computational Complexity: connections.
The living beings as examples of Complex Systems.
Principles and techniques to investigate Complex Systems.
Reference texts P. L. Gentili, “Untangling Complex Systems: A Grand Challenge for Science”, CRC Press, 2018, ISBN 9781466509429.
Educational objectives The graduate students in Industrial and Molecular Biotechnology can learn the principles of Out-of-Equilibrium Thermodynamics and Non-Linear Dynamics only in this course.
The primary purpose of this course is to give the students the conceptual and methodological basis to face the analysis of Complex Systems and particularly the phenomenon of life. The central notions that must be learned by students are:
• evolutive criteria of the biophysical and chemical systems that are out-of-equilibrium conditions;
• self-organization;
• deterministic chaos and fractal structures;
• Natural and Computational Complexity.
All these notions will allow students to:
• know the physical and chemical properties of living beings;
• have the paradigms and the computational techniques to investigate the behavior of living beings at the molecular and ecological levels;
• appreciate the limits in predicting deterministic chaos;
• characterize Fractal structures in living beings.
Prerequisites Knowledge of the Equilibrium Thermodynamics.
Teaching methods The concepts proposed in this module will be taught through 42 hours of frontal lessons. During these lessons, the teacher will continuously test the learning process of students by making questions. The explanation of some subjects will be assisted by proposing videos and by computer simulations performed through software available online.
Other information For elucidations, please contact the teacher.
Learning verification modality The acquisition of the course topics is tested through an oral exam with questions related to the subjects presented during the lectures.
Extended program The subjects proposed are the following ones:
1) Introduction to Natural Complexity. Properties of the Complex Systems and living beings.
2) Deepened analysis of the II Law of Thermodynamics.
3) Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics. Flows and Forces. Linear and Non-Linear regimes. Entropy Production and evolution criteria for the out-of-equilibrium systems.
4) Linear analysis of the stability of the stationary states: stable and unstable stationary states, and oscillations.
5) Oscillatory biochemical reactions, chemical waves, Turing structures. Periodic Precipitations.
6) Bifurcations and deterministic Chaos.
7) Fractal structures.
8) Natural and Computational Complexities. Strategies to face the Complexity Challenges.

SPECTROSCOPIC TECHNIQUES APPLIED

Code GP004122
CFU 6
Teacher Paolo Foggi
Teachers
  • Paolo Foggi
Hours
  • 42 ore - Paolo Foggi
Learning activities Caratterizzante
Area Discipline chimiche
Academic discipline CHIM/02
Type of study-unit Obbligatorio (Required)
Language of instruction Italian
Contents Spectroscopies for the determination of molecular structures of biological interest.
Reference texts Notes by the teacher
Educational objectives To provide the students an integrated vision of the technical tools for the determination of the molecular structures.
Prerequisites None
Teaching methods class lessons and experiments in the laboratory.
Other information contact the teacher
Learning verification modality oral exam
Extended program 1. Protein structure. The Ramachandran plots. Alfa-elix and beta-sheet.
2. NMR Spectroscopy. General principles. Linear H-NMR. Frequency resolved NMR and pulsed techniques.Free Induction Decay. Relaxation mechanisms.The Fourier transform.
3. Bidimensional NMR. NOESY and COSY.
4. Optical activity. Circular dichroism spectroscopy. General principles and applications. The peptide bond. Secondary structure and CD spectra.
5. Light diffusion. Molecular volume and light scattering.
6. Raman spectrosocpy. General principles. The resonace Raman technique. Its application in different spectral regions. The peptide bond, aromatic amino-acids, the heme group.
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