Throughout this course students will get acquainted with the techniques currently used in the analysis of DNA and RNA.
To do so we will go into detail in the properties of nucleic acids, as so students can understand and propose improvements in the techniques used in their isolation and purification, as well as to take appropriate decisions based on various conditions, such as the starting material, the main limiting factors, such as yield, purity, or the time required for isolation, or which are to be the technologies used afterwards. Among these technologies, the student will become familiar with the following:
– Obtaining DNA, RNA and cDNA, and analysis of its quality.
– Design of «primers» optimized for different types of PCRs.
– Quantification of gene expression thanks to the special techniques of PCR, quantitative real-time PCR, and digital PCR.
– Making a library representative of the genome of an organism, previously analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of the different available types of vectors.
– New methodologies of massive DNA sequencing (NGS), characteristics and possibilities. Emphasis will be placed on these techniques as primarily responsible for the great advances in general knowledge of genomes and gene expression by allowing sequencing of millions of DNA fragments at the same time as the traditional method succeeds for one sequence and a derisory cost.