The laboratory is an exciting and mysterious place where theory is applied in practice. Students will, with their own hands, plan, setup, and perform an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, also called ELISA. This assay, developed in research laboratory, has become an essential tool in diagnostic laboratories.
Course Prerequisites
Students will need a certain amount of knowledge in the field of biology, biochemistry and immunology. However, the laboratory is an excellent place to "learn by doing" and an excellent way to understand what might not immediately be clear from the lectures previously given on the topic of ELISA, antibody binding to antigens, and how these important interactions are used in research and clinical laboratories.
Teaching Methods
Laboratory experiment performed by the students themselves and supervised by two experienced researchers.
Assessment Methods
The assessment of the complete course will take place in written form within the Biology of the Disease exam (Immunology part). This will include questions that relate to the ELISA method and the laboratory experimentation of the students.
Texts
Protocols, slides and handouts.
Contents
During the tutorial different types of ELISA assays will be discussed, after which the students are given a detailed protocol and explanation of the instruments and reagents that will be used. Pipetting, essential to many molecular, medical, and life science research activities, is explained and practiced before the students start with their ELISA, handling antigens, antibodies, making dilutions and calculations. The laboratory will take several days and the results obtained with each ELISA will be compared and discussed with the whole group. Great emphasize will be made to how assays are developed to minimize instrument and operator error and how such effects can be spotted within the data.
