Plant Biotechnology

Note 1: The period mentioned below is the period in which this course starts. For the exact academic weeks see the courseplanning on www.wur.eu/schedule.
Note 2: This course is offered online and it takes about 20 hours to complete the weekly task. There are assignments with deadlines, group work and non-synchronous interaction with teachers and fellow students.
Note 3: This is an online course, but it can also be followed by on-campus students after consultation of the course coordinator.

Plant biotechnology is a discipline that connects the new insights into genes and their products with the end product that is destined for the market. As with other technological disciplines, plant biotechnology comprises a mixture of many other scientific areas of biological sciences such as molecular biology, biochemistry, physiology and genetics. In this course we will present information on the basics of classical plant biotechnology through to advanced methods for modifying and improving plants and plant products. This will be done using knowledge clips, exercises, study of a set textbook and recent scientific publications. In addition the participants will have the opportunity to apply the knowledge gained during the course and use their own creativity in the form of an group assignment that will run throughout the course. Another main feature of the course will be to analyse and assess the implications of this new technology for wider society. The assignment will form a central part of the course and will be submitted in the form of a written report and a presentation the latter will be reviewed and evaluated by fellow students. The presentations and debates will form part of practical week at the WUR campus.

After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:

• Understand the scientific and technological components of what is and is not Plant Biotechnology
• Understand the molecular biological basis of the key technologies comprising plant biotechnology
• Analyse literature an apply the findings to a biotechnological problem
• Critically review the position of plant biotechnology in relation to society
• Conceive, plan, write and present a project proposal for a plant biotechnological product

Assumed Knowledge:
Basic molecular biology and plant biochemistry. It is necessary to have followed an online course at Wageningen University before, or the special Onboarding course for distance learning. To get access to the Onboarding course, send an email to: onboarding.wur@wur.nl.