Industrial biotechnology
Class: LM-8 - Industrial Biotechnologies
Next Calls for applications (international students) - A.Y. 2023/24:
- 1st Call: 2 November 2022 - 2 February 2023
- 2nd Call: 2 March - 2 May 2023
- 3rd Call (ONLY EU and equated students): 2 June - 2 August 2023
A course aimed at training specialists in the use of biotechnology for the environment and in the industrial production of innovative bio-products and bio-materials, in a sustainable way. The study of subjects such as synthetic molecular biotechnology or immunological biotechnology will allow you to deal, for example, with the design of antibodies and vaccines in animal and plant organisms; on the other hand, subjects such as biocrystallography and magnetic resonance imaging of proteins and nanobiotechnologies will prepare you to analyze proteins and their interactions with potential drugs. The training is completed with courses aimed at the use of biotechnology for the recovery of polluted environments and the exploitation of renewable energy sources. You can operate in bio-tech, chemical, chemical-pharmaceutical and food industries.
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Characteristics and objectives
The Master's Degree aims to train specialists in the most advanced sectors of industrial biotechnology, such as the production and use of recombinant enzymes and proteins from prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, including the design of antibodies and vaccines in animal and plant organisms. To this goal contribute the teachings of molecular synthetic biotechnology, immunological biotechnology, large-scale cell cultures and biomolecules production.
Professional figures are formed that can design and manipulate nanosystems for biological purposes (transfections, imaging, drug carriers) and to analyze protein structure and function and the interaction of proteins with potential drugs. This is achieved through teachings such as protein structure, which includes both biocrystallography and protein NMR, computational synthetic biotechnology, nanosystems, and nanobiotechnology.
The teachings of computational synthetic biotechnology and structural and functional genomics are dedicated to the training of researchers and technicians specializing in computer methods for the analysis of the genome and the proteome, a specially developed sector at Cribi (Interdepartmental Research Center for Innovative Biotechnologies), with which some teachers of biotechnology courses collaborate.
The teachings of chemical biotechnology, environmental biotechnology and bioenergy production and environmental toxicology contribute to form professional figures able to utilize the potential of biotechnology to propose solutions for the recovery of polluted environments and the exploitation of renewable sources for energy and chemicals.
Starting in the A.A. 2014/15, an elective course named 'Start-up in life sciences' has been launched; it provides basic tools to start an entrepreneurial project or to undertake a technical or managerial career within an enterprise.
Occupational opportunities
The Master's Degree in Industrial Biotechnology prepares graduates with specialization in industrially applicable biotechnology disciplines: they can engage in research activities in industries involved in the production of technological platforms for functional genomics and proteomics, in the production of recombinant proteins, enzymes, and antibodies and in the design of nanosystems for biotechnological applications. They will also find employment in public and private facilities for environmental control and recovery. The main potential employers are bio-tech, chemical, chemical-pharmaceutical, and food companies.
