Course finder

<< return to browsing

Semester 2

Microorganisms, Infection and Immunity 2 (BIME08012)

Subject

Biomedical Sciences

College

MVM

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

2

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Course Summary

This course will provide a foundation in the biology of micro-organisms, how micro-organisms infect and interact with their hosts, an overview of the immune system and how it fights infection, and how disease may develop if the host fails to effectively deal with infection.

Course Description

The broad intentions and outcomes of the course are as follows:1) To describe the diversity, and fundamental structural and physiological characteristics of microorganisms, with an emphasis on microorganisms that infect humans. To give an overview of the strategies and processes by which microorganisms infect and survive within their host. 2) To describe how the mammalian immune system detects and kills infecting microorganisms. 3) To overview the processes by which infection can result in disease and immune pathology, and the consequences of failing to control infection4) To describe how the immune system can be harnessed for the therapeutic treatment of infections or diseases (E.g. vaccines) and how components of the immune system are used for research and diagnostics. The course will start by giving an overview of infection, and how the immune system is organised (Section 1: Infection and immune System overview). Following this it will detail the characteristics and diversity of micro-organisms, including viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites (Section 2: Diversity and characteristics of microorganisms), and then describe how the immune system exploits these characteristics to identify, respond to, and develop memory towards diverse types of infectious micro-organisms (Section 3: How does the immune system detect infection?). It will then demonstrate how the biology of microorganisms allows them to infect, survive and expand within their host, and the consequences of failing to control infection (Section 4: Microorganism physiology and infection). The course will then discuss the cells of the immune system, and the mechanisms by which they control and kill infectious microbes (Section 5: How does the immune system control infection?). Finally, the course will cover how we are able to harness and use microbes and the immune system for our own goals (Section 6: Harnessing microbes and the immune system). Including environmental and industrial uses of microbes, and how infections and diseases can be controlled through vaccination and immune therapies.The lecture content will be reinforced through a combination of lecture review questions, practical sessions, and tutorials. The tutorials are focussed on developing the skills required to read scientific literature.**Year 2 course - can only be taken by students in their second year of study**

Assessment Information

Written Exam 30%, Coursework 70%, Practical Exam 0%

Additional Assessment Information

70% In Course Assessment (30% based on literature comprehension/data interpretation, 40% assessed essay)30% Exam: Multiple Choice Questions (based on lecture content and practical sessions)

view the timetable and further details for this course