Study Guide

Objectives (course unit)

The student is able to
- explain the essential terms and principles of cell culture and clean room techniques
- describe the areas of application in clinical and research laboratories and methods that involve cell culture
- work aseptically and safely in cell culture and clean room laboratories
- maintain, analyze with microscopy and store cultured cells and count cells with hemocytometer
- define the requirements of GMP regulations in aseptic production
- gown for cleanroom, work aseptically and safely in cleanroom and take surface and air samples to monitor the cleanliness
- apply the knowledge and skills in further studies in different fields of biomedical sciences and in cleanroom work

Content (course unit)

Terms and theoretical background of cell culture
Areas of application
Cell culture equipment
Basic methods of cell culture
Behaviour of cells in culture, handling and maintaining cells
Primary cells/cell lines
Contamination/asepticity
Special techniques
Clean room work
GMP regulations
Practical cleanroom training, gowning and asepticity

Prerequisites (course unit)

The student has passed 19BA-1004 and 19BA-1005 as applicable before entering this course

Further information (course unit)

The course includes training in the university of applied sciences’ teaching laboratory

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2) (course unit)

The student knows the main principles of cell culture and clean room work. He/she can explain the main terms and concepts. The student knows the most relevant areas of application of cell culture and clean room work for biomedical laboratory scientists. The student can work aseptically and safely in cell culture laboratory or clean room. The student can maintain and handle cultured cells with guidance and follow clean room hygiene with surface and air sampling.

Assessment criteria, good (3-4) (course unit)

The student can explain the terms and concepts of cell culture and clean room work comprehensively. He/she can explain the behaviour of animal cells in culture and name the factors needed for their growth. The student knows the areas of application of cell culture and clean room work. The student can work aseptically and safely in cell culture laboratory or clean room and apply the theoretical knowledge to laboratory work. The student can maintain and handle cultured cells according to written instructions, plan cell culture experiments and follow clean room hygiene with surface and air sampling.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5) (course unit)

The student can explain the terms, concepts and principles of cell culture and clean room work comprehensively. He/she can explain the behaviour of animal cells in culture and name the factors needed for their growth and explain their mechanisms. The student knows the areas of application of cell culture and clean room work. The student can work aseptically and safely in cell culture laboratory or clean room and apply the theoretical knowledge to laboratory work. The student can independently search for information and maintain and handle different kinds of cultured cells and plan cell culture experiments accordingly. The student is able to follow clean room hygiene with surface and air sampling and interpret the results from different kinds of hygiene monitoring samples.

Assessment criteria, pass/fail (course unit)

-

Exam schedules

The exam date is agreed at the beginning of the course.
Retake exams in Exam.

Assessment methods and criteria

Participation to laboratory exercises is compulsory.
Exam: graded 0-5. Active participation and completing lecture assignments can improve the grade.

Assessment scale

0-5

Teaching methods

lectures
assignments
laborations
exam

Learning materials

Lecture material.
Forss, Heinonen: Soluviljelijän käsikirja. Oppimateriaalia soluviljelymenetelmäkurssille.
Additional material for example
Butler, M . 2007. Cell Culture and upstream processing. New York, N.Y. Taylor & Francis Group .
Prabhakar, U., & Kelley , M. 2008. Validation of cell -based assays in the GLP setting: a practical guide. Chichester: Wiley.
Davis, J. M. 2002. Basic Cell Culture: a practical approach. Oxford University Press.
Freshney R. Ian. 2005. Culture of animal cells: a manual of basic technique. New York: Wiley -Liss.
Helgason, Miller. 2005. Basic Cell Culture Protocols. Humana Press.
Sullivan, S. Cowan , C . & Eggan K . 2007. Human embryonic stem cells : the practical handbook . Chichester : John Wiley & Sons .

Student workload

Lectures 22 h + 2 h exam .
Laboratory 7 h cell culture, 2 h clean room work.
Independent work approximately 47 h.

Content scheduling

Lectures: Tuuli Välineva and Leila Kakko
Cell Culture Labs: Janette Hinkka