Learning outcomes:

At the end of the course unit student should be able to

• describe the functioning of the immune system,
• describe the common microbial disease agents, methods of transmission and control,
• apply principles of disease diagnostic methods,
• describe the principles of microbial process development,
• apply basic formulas in growth kinetics and bio-engineering parameters of fermentation technology,
• apply principles of microbial process development in production of industrial chemicals, food-flavors, health care products.

Course content:
Microbial technology:
The nature of biotechnology, historical evolution of biotechnology, Growth application and strategic planning in biotechnology.  Safety in Microbiology laboratory.

Basic principles of biochemical engineering and its role in the development of fermentation technology; Unit operations, unit processes, process design. Microbial growth kinetics, batch preservation and improvement of industrial microorganisms. Primary metabolites and Secondary metabolites. Fermentation technology Bio-reactors, media design, measurement techniques, Solid Substrate Fermentation (SSF). Application of microbial technology, microbial production of ethanol, wine, beer, lactic acid, vinegar, amino acids, antibiotics, enzymes soy sauce, bio-gas generation.  Basic principles in cosmetic microbiology.

Medical Microbiology:

Host-microbe Interactions; Host defenses in vertebrates; non-specific and specific defense mechanisms. Cellular and Humoral immune responses; structure, formation and classes of immunoglobulins, Diagnostic Immunology, Disorders associated with the Immune system.  Microorganisms and human diseases; microbial diseases of skin, respiratory, gastrointestinal, genitourinary and nervous.

Veterinary Microbiology:

Aetiology, transmission, pathogenesis and diagnosis of common microbial diseases of poultry in Sri Lanka.

Method of teaching and learning:

A combination of lectures, tutorials and computer assisted learning.

Assessment:

Continuous assessment and end of the course examination.

Recommended reading:

1. Cruger, W. and Cruger, A. (1990) Biotechnology A text book of industrial microbiology. Science Tech. Inc. Madison.
2. Greenwood, D., Slack, R. C. B.,  Peutherer,  J. F. (1997) Medical microbiology(15th Ed): Churchill Livingstone, UK.
3. Prave, P., Faust, U., Sttigg, W. and Sukatsch, D. A. (1982) Biotechnology – A student’s guide. VCH Vergasgesllschaft, Germany.