Essentials of Biotechnology

Contents Preface. Units 1. Introduction to biotechnology. 2. Cytology. 3. Growth. 4. Nutrition. 5. Carbohydrates. 6. Lipids. 7. Amino acids and proteins. 8. Nucleic acids. 9. Vitamins. 10. Enzymes. 11. Hormones and phytohormones. 12. Biophysical chemistry. 13. Microscopy. 14. Staining. 15. Cell measurements. 16. Isolation and cultivation techniques. 17. Sterilization and disinfection. 18. Methods in microbial taxonomy. Experiments 1. Safety in laboratory. 2. Preparation of standard solutions. 3. Specific gravity determination. 4. Viscosity measurement. 5. pH meter. 6. Beer's and Lambert's law. 7. Paper chromatography. 8. Thin layer chromatography. 9. Qualitative tests for carbohydrates. 10. Qualitative tests for proteins/amino acids. 11. Determination of pKa value. 12. Isolation of starch from potato. 13. Isolation of casein from milk. 14. Estimation of protein (Biuret assay). 15. Estimation of sugar (DNSA method). 16. Determination of iodine number. 17. Estimation of acid number. 18. Estimation of DNA by (DPA method). 19. Estimation of RNA (Orcinol method). 20. Enzyme assay (amylase). 21. Compound microscope. 22. Culture media preparation. 23. Negative staining (relief staining). 24. Monochrome staining. 25. Gram staining. 26. Streak plate technique. 27. Pour plate technique. 28. Most probable number (MPN). 29. Separation of serum from blood. 30. Blood group. 31. Antigen antibody reaction. 32. Widal test. 33. Isolation of genomic DNA. 34. Isolation of plasmid DNA. 35. SDS page. 36. Agarose gel electrophoresis. References. Index. Essentials of Biotechnology is meant for undergraduate biotechnology and life sciences students. The book discusses the basics of interdisciplinary subjects which is required for developing the conceptual understanding in biotechnology and to acquire research attitude. It elaborates fundamental concepts which are absolutely necessary for budding biotechnologists. It is an attempt to cover broad spectrum of biological dimensions with biotechnological exploration. Section I elaborates theoretical aspects of basic biology biochemistry microbiology molecular biology with correlation to modern applied aspects. Section II is grounded in the experimental approach. Each experiment is described with sufficient details. The figures and tables provided with experiments will be helpful to the students and the instructor for better understanding of the scientific principles and skillful execution of the experiments. 406 pp. …