BIOE 202 Lecture 01: Course Intro, Measurements, and Mixing

Vocabulary and key concepts from the BIOE 202 introductory lecture on course policies, lab safety, equipment usage, and statistical analysis.

BIOE 202

The course title for Cell and Tissue Engineering Lab.

Pablo Perez-Pinera, M.D., Ph.D.

The course instructor and Associate Professor.

Attendance Policy for Unjustified Absences

The first absence results in an automatic $25\%$ reduction in the corresponding assignment; the second results in a $75\%$ reduction; and the third results in failing the course.

Late Arrival Policy for Lab

Arriving even one second late (e.g., 10:00:01 am for a 10:00 am start) results in a grade penalty equivalent to an unjustified absence.

Professionalism Deductions

Failure to meet professionalism expectations can reduce the final grade by up to $24\%$, with a $3\%$ deduction applied for each infraction.

Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2)

The safety classification of the lab in room 3109, indicating the handling of cells contaminated with human pathogens.

Benchling

The platform used for maintaining the laboratory notebook and creating projects.

Module 1 Objective

Transfer plasmid DNA into a bacterial host to produce more of it and verify the construct is correct.

Module 2 Objective

Transfer the generated plasmid into mammalian cells to produce green fluorescent protein (GFP) and verify fluorescence.

Module 3 Objective

Extract protein to measure quantity, check size and stability, and detect by affinity tag.

Micropipette First Stop

The initial resistance point on the plunger used to draw in the correct volume of a sample.

Micropipette Second Stop

The point reached by pushing the plunger past the first stop to ensure the entire volume of a sample is expelled.

Pipet Aids

Electric or manual devices used with serological pipets for measuring and transferring larger volumes than micropipettes.

Cotton Plugs

Filters at the top of serological pipets that must not be contacted by liquid to prevent damage to the pipet aid mechanism.

Aseptic/Sterile Technique

Practices and procedures that prevent the contamination of samples and stock solutions.

Optical Density (OD)

Indirect measurement of cell concentration using light absorbance; $600\,\text{nm}$ light is used for bacterial cultures.

E. coli Density Constant

The relationship where $1\,OD_{600} = 8 \times 10^8\,\text{CFU/mL}$.

Serial Dilutions

Stepwise dilutions used to ensure measurements fall within the linear range of a detection device.

Linear Range

The range where input is directly correlated with output for a detection device, defined by high and low detection limits.

Systematic Error

A source of variability where results are consistently different from the true value, such as an incorrectly calibrated machine.

Random Error

Variability in results that occurs completely by chance.

Biological Replicates

Parallel measurements in biologically distinct samples used to address the reproducibility of an effect.

Technical Replicates

Repeated measurements of the same sample used to address the reproducibility of an assay, technique, or technician skill.

Standard Deviation (SD)

A measure of how far the data points in a sample set are distributed from the mean.

Standard Error of the Mean (SEM)

A measure of how far the calculated sample mean is from the true population mean.