Volume 3 Winter 2006

BREMEN JOURNAL

OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

IN BIOTECHNOLOGY

Editors: Prof. Dr. T. Achstetter / Prof. Dr. G. Klöck

Dear Reader!

Volume 3 of the Bremen Journal ofUndergraduate Research inBiotechnology (BJURB) concludes ona successful year 2006.

In the period of September tillChristmas the final year’s students ofISTAB (Industrial Biology) againformed the R&D department of TiGerBioTec, the virtual company of theeditors. This year the students wereasked to deliver a “proof of concept”-study evaluating a biotech approachfor removal of stickers from varioussurfaces. The students will present tothe Scientific Advisory Board of ISTAB(industrial biology) their experiencesduring their work at TiGer. This presen-tation will take place as part of theannual meeting of the Board inFebruary 2007. The experimentalresults of the study will serve as basisfor the Bachelor thesis of the students.

In October the editors founded the“Institute for Professional Training inIndustrial Biotechnology” („Institut fürdie Praxis der Naturwissenschaften“,Hochschule Bremen) as a trainingplatform of the University of AppliedSciences, Bremen. The institute aimsat further developing concepts for apractice-oriented education/training ofscientists coming from university orindustry. The training is intended totake place in the course of seminarsand summer schools, it will be project-and product oriented pursuing theconcept of TiGer BioTec.

Furthermore this issue of BJURBpresents a series of short communi-cations summarizing the experiencesof the study semester and internshipabroad of the final year’s students ofISTAB (industrial biology). Additionalcontributions come from an interviewthe final years students carried out withSwantje Krause, continuing her ISTAB

studies with a Master course inEngland. Also included are the resultsof a questionnaire of the first year’sstudents of ISTAB.

In order to form a strong internationalnetwork with partners of foreignuniversities a cooperation wasestablished with the Hanse UniversityGroningen in The Netherlands.Planned are concerted activitiesstarting with a visit of students andprofessors from Groningen January 26,2007. A minisymposium will allow for aclose exchange. A visit to Groningen ofISTAB students and professors isalready planned for April 2007.

In various newspapers and journalsarticles appeared taking notice ofsuccessful ISTAB graduates as well asthe efforts of the editors to developefficient educational tools for apractice-oriented teaching (seebibliography).

The editors note with satisfaction thatISTAB Bachelor graduates can findjobs or can enroll in competitive masterprograms inside and outside ofGermany.

The editors as well as the final year’sstudents who contributed the mostwish our friends and readers of thejournal a peaceful Christmas and aHappy New Year.

Bibliography

„Wir haben es geschafft“. „STERN“ Vol. 19 ofMay 4, 2006, p194-206.

„Virtuelle Aufträge von TiGer BioTec. Projektder Hochschule Bremen bereitet Studenten aufden Berufsalltag vor.“ Article in theWeserkurier of May 3, 2006 („Campus“)

„Wie im richtigen Leben - Studenten derHochschule entwickeln Produkte / Projekt-Erfahrung fließt in neues Institut ein.“ Article inthe Weserkurier of November 10, 2006(„Campus“)

G. Klöck. „Ingenieur-Nachwuchs: Bachelor-Absolventen gefragt – Bremer Professorenschlagen Trainee-Programm als Ersatz fürDiplom-Arbeit vor“. IHK Bremen. Wirtschaft inBremen 2/2006, p36.

T. Achstetter and G. Klöck: „TiGer BioTec –virtuelle Firma. Praxistest für Bremer

Studierende“ (2006). Biologen heute (vdbiol)2_2006, 16-17.

T. Achstetter und G. Klöck:„Berufsqualifizierung von Bachelor-Absolventen - Biotechnologie-Ausbildung inBremen.“ (2006) Biospektrum 5, 556-557

Inhalt

“Studying at the University of Salford” – An example ofstudies abroad of ISTAB students .....................................2Internship abroad ................................................................6

Linda Gätjen ........................................................................................................7

Jessica Bösch......................................................................................................8

Antje Nentwig ....................................................................................................10

Patricia Walden .................................................................................................12

Valentin Chikin...................................................................................................13

Catharina Wiegel ...............................................................................................15

Sofia Lawen.......................................................................................................16

Miriam Stella Mann............................................................................................18

Iza Götz .............................................................................................................19

Mirja Meiners .....................................................................................................20

Nancy Horvath...................................................................................................21

Kristina Burkert ..................................................................................................22

Interview mit einer ehemaligen ISTAB-Studentin............24Was machen ISTAB-Absolventen nach dem Studium? ..29Woher kommen die ISTAB-Studierenden? ......................32

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“Studying at the University of Salford” – An example ofstudies abroad of ISTAB students

An important part of the international Bachelor degree course of Technical andApplied Biology (ISTAB) is the integral year (i.e. two semesters) in a non-Germanspeaking country. One semester the students study at a university abroad offeringan analogues program and the other semester the students do a practicalplacement in a company or institute abroad, which is also self-organised.Fortunately, the University of Applied Sciences Bremen cooperates with a varietyof companies, institutes and universities in different countries. Since a few yearsthe University of Salford, a Greater Manchester University in England, UnitedKingdom is one of its cooperation partners. This makes the application very easyand in addition the university offers ISTAB students the opportunity to obtain aBritish Bachelor of Sciences degree in the final year.Five of us, Jessica Bösch, Valentin Chikin, Nancy Horvath, Antje Nentwig andCatharina Wiegel, took this chance and decided to study two semesters in Salfordto finish the studies abroad with a Bachelor degree in Biochemical Sciences. Thisimplied studying two semesters in the time from September 2005 until June 2006.

Figure 1: University of Salford - Maxwell Building and Maxwell Hall

The journey and accommodation was organized by us. We travelled by bus orplane and stayed in one of the student accommodations near the campus. The lifethere was not always a pleasure, but we made a few nice contacts to british andinternational students, which was a good English training for us. In additionnumerous leisure activities, such as different university clubs (e.g. riding) and thegym, pool and pubs offered many possibilities to meet new people from all overthe world.

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Beside living and travelling costs, we had to pay tuition fees at the university. Afew of us were financed by “Auslandsbafög” and/or got a repayment of the tuitionfees from the Department for Education and Skills in England. Because of goodmarks in Bremen Catharina and Jessica got a scholarship of the University ofSalford.After an international orientation week we registered for the final year of theBiochemical Sciences course at the School of Environment of Life Sciences at theuniversity. With our academic transcripts of our home university we obtained thestudy permission and the required credit points we needed to start in the final year.Especially in the first time of our studies we were friendly supported by ourinternational tutor Dr. Davies.To complete the Bachelor degree students had to reach 120 credit points in theirthird year of studies. These credits could be collected by enrolling for at least fourout of 10 available 20-credit modules and for a 40-credit module, which was asupervised research project.Because of the work account in most modules we chose an equal amount ofmodules in both semesters. Lectures and the project work for the later describedfinal year project were carried out throughout both semesters.

In all modules we had to do a certain amount of course work and in most casesthe lectures were accompanied with practical classes in the laboratory or at thecomputer. Course work was assessed and the marks made up to 20% of the finalmark. For example we had to submit reports of performed experiments,summaries and critical literature reviews and had to prepare a poster presentation.At the end of each semester the exams were coming up. In the 3 hours longexams, we had to answer 3 out of 7 questions in an essay-like structure and of anapproximate length of four pages.In semester one all of us took the module “Biotechnology”. Some lecture contentsas antibiotic and citric acid production were familiar to us, but discussed muchmore in detail. Other biotechnological topics were new, such as modern DNAtechniques. A new work experience was the computer practical and the design ofa poster in addition to a 5000 word assay on a biotechnological topic.As the second module in semester one Jessica, Antje and Valentin chose “Medicaland Public Health Microbiology”. Lecture topics, practical and theoretical coursework were mostly new to us and dealt with the pathogenesis of different bacteriaand viruses, clinical and food microbiology and disease transmission. Besides“Biotechnology”, Nancy did “Cardiovascular and Respiratory Physiology” insemester one. She had lectures on haematology and on normal physiology as wellas pathophysiological disorders of cardiovascular and respiratory systems in man.The module increased and specified her basic knowledge about mammalianphysiology. Catharina chose “Bioinformatics and Molecular Genetics” as a secondmodule in semester one. The application of different computer programs was agood tool to combine her skills in molecular genetics and computer work.In semester two Valentin and Catharina chose the module “Immunology”. Wealready heard a bit of immunology in Bremen, but the lectures were much moredetailed and dealt with much more topics than in Bremen. Jessica, Nancy andAntje had “Biochemistry of Disease” as one of their modules in semester two. Bothmodules were accompanied with practical classes in the lab and at the computer.

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As the second module in semester two all of us chose “Drugs and Diseases”.Topics of the lectures of the latter two modules were completely new to us. Theywere mainly focused on the biochemical origins and treatment of cancer and otherdiseases (e.g.: Malaria, cardiac diseases). We gained a theoretical backgroundwhich ISTAB could not give us until then.

Our supervised final year project topic we could chose from a list of approximately60 proposals at the beginning of the first semester. There were three main types ofpossible projects: type A projects were experimental projects, type B projects dealtwith data analysis and type C projects were critical literature reviews. In semesterone, we mainly did literature research for our projects, wrote a risk assessment incase of experimental projects and had ten accompanying lectures about topicssuch as plagiarism or how to write a report. Some of us already started with thepractical work in semester one. At the end of semester one, we had to submit a2000-3000 words long interim report in which we presented a brief literaturereport, the methods and a plan for further work to do in semester two. This interimreport counted 20% of the final mark in this module. In the new semester we had aViva Voce, a short oral examination, about the contents of the interim report. Thenlab work for the project started or continued in semester two. A title and a draft forthe supervisor had to be submitted in time. The final year project was completedwith the final report of 8000 to 10000 words, where the literature background, aimsof the project, methods, results, discussion and future work of the project had to bepresented in an appropriate form. The final year report made up 75% of themodule mark.With the exception of Nancy who did a critical analysis project with computerbased work, all of us had an experimental project in the laboratory. Titles of ourchosen projects are listed in the following table (table 1).

Table 1: Chosen Final Year ProjectsISTAB student Final year project titleJessica Bösch Does L-asparaginase therapy in acute lymphoblastic

leukaemia also depend on L-glutamine?Valentin Chikin Cytotoxicity studies of novel DTD-activated

aziridinylbenzoquinones against breast cancer cells invitro

Nancy Horvath Critical analysis of bioinformatic programs used for DNAand amino acid sequence analysis

Antje Nentwig Kinetics of adhesion of exponential and stationary phaseStaphylococcus aureus to immobilized fibrinogen

CatharinaWiegel

Biological evaluation of anti-cancer agents interacting withtubulin

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Figure 2: After Graduation - Jessica Bösch and Antje Nentwigin their graduation dress

Overall, the studies in Salford were very time intensive and demanding, but as allof us have reached their goals and obtained a B.Sc. Honours degree inBiochemical Sciences the effort was definitely worth it.

Written by Antje Nentwig with friendly help from Catharina, Valentin, Jessica andNancy

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Internship abroadThe internship abroad is part of the studies in Industrial and Environmental Biology(ISTAB). Even students from the age-group 2003 have carried out such aninternship abroad. European countries have been chosen for this internship aswell as countries from all over the world. The students were able to gainexperience in several fields of Biology such as molecular biology, biochemicalbiology or even medical biology. In this article, the students will give a shortintroduction to their internship abroad. The following reports will not only give ashort view to the practical side of the internship but also will demonstrate themanifoldness of institutions that offer the possibility to students for such aninternship.

The students (From top left to the bottom right): Valentin Chikin, Jessica Bösch, Linda Gätjen,Nancy Horvath, Antje Nentwig, Sofia Lawen, Mirja Meiners, Kristina Burkert, Miriam Mann,Catharina Wiegel, Iza Götz and Patricia Walden.

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Linda Gätjen

I made my practicaltraining at the Centrefor Carbohydrate Bioprocessing (CCB), which is part of theUniversity of Groningen (RuG) and located in the department ofbiology in Haren. CCB is a collaboration between GroningenBiomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute (GBB) of theUniversity of Groningen and TNO (Nutrition and Food Research).During my internship at CCB, I worked on a project with the title “Lowering theinhibitory effect of acarbose on Bacillus circulans 251 CGTase by shuffling ofmutants”. The Cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGTase) from Bacillus circulansstrain 251 is an extracellular enzyme and belongs to the α-amylase family 13.Many of these α-amylase family members and all known CGTases are stronglyinhibited by acarbose which is a secondary metabolite produced by Actinoplanessp. SE50/110. In the pharmaceutical industry acarbose is sold under the name“Glucobay” by Bayer and is primarly used to control blood sugar levels in diabetestype II. In order to identify the residues of the active site and secondary bindingsite of CGTase which interact with acarbose, Error-Prone PCR was previouslycarried out on the Bacillus circulans 251 cgtase gene, introducing a number ofrandom mutations throughout the gene. The generated library was screened forpositive mutants, that showed a higher resistance against the inhibition ofacarbose than the wild-type CGTase. Within this project, further rounds ofmutagenesis using first round mutants as templates were carried out using DNAshuffling, which is a method for in vitro recombination of homologous genes. Oneaim was to identify a new set of combinations of mutations that alter the inhibitoryeffect of acarbose on the CGTase enzyme.Because most of the mutants used for the shuffling contained combinations of twoor more mutations, single mutants were generated in order to clarify the role ofeach single mutation in the inhibition process.All of the mutations that were found to play an important role in the inhibitory effectof acarbose on this enzyme are located in the catalytic core, close to the activesite of the enzyme.

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Jessica BöschThe internship was carried out at Kidscan Children’sCancer Research Centre, University of Salford(Manchester, United Kingdom) in the time between 5 Juneand 25 August 2006.Kidscan is an independently operating, registered charityand as such receives its financial resources from publicdonations. It was established “to fund the translationalCentre for Molecular Drug Design”(http://www.bri.salford.ac.uk/research_centres/kidscan/index.shtml, accessed on04/11/2006), which is one out of four research centres together forming theBiomedical Sciences Research Institute at the University of Salford.Research activities of Kidscan are focused on improving the treatment of childrenwith cancer with interests in both new drugs and the development of improved orrather more individual therapies (McGown, personal communication, 2006). Here,the centre aims “to participate in national and international studies of newanticancer therapies, both independently and as part of the United KingdomChildren’s Cancer Study” Group(http://www.bri.salford.ac.uk/research_centres/kidscan/index.shtml, accessed on04/11/2006).Investigating a number of different research projects in average thirty people areworking at Kidscan. They comprise academic and research staff as well asresearch students, their expertise lying in biological sciences, biochemistry andmolecular pharmacology.During the placement period I worked with Nick Coe, performing a variety ofdifferent in vitro experiments. His project consists of laboratory and clinical studiesof L-asparaginase (L-ASNase) cytotoxicity and pharmacodynamics.L-ASNase, an enzyme used in the chemotherapy of acute lymphoblasticleukaemia (ALL), catalyzes the hydrolysis of L-asparagine (ASN) resulting in adepletion of serum ASN. ALL is a rapid developing disease, affectinghaematopoietic processes of white blood cells. The leukaemia cells are said to besusceptible towards L-ASNase lacking sufficient asparagine synthetase activity,therefore relying on extracellular ASN.L-ASNase is also endowed with glutaminase activity, thus also causes adeficiency of L-glutamine (GLN). GLN is vital for correct cellular metabolism. Up tonow it is not known for certain if ALL cells possess the capability of synthesizingGLN.However, the relationship of events leading to the effectiveness of L-ASNase inALL therapy is still not characterised in every detail, one aim of the study of NickCoe therefore being the determination of the relative importance of GLN and ASNdeprivation for L-ASNase mediated cytotoxicity for the human leukaemia cell linesNalm-6 and Molt-4 (Coe, 2006, personal communication).

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To gain knowledge changes in cellular biochemical determinants of L-ASNaseinduced cytotoxicity, namely ASN, aspartate, GLN, glutamate, nucleotide anddeoxynucleotide pools are investigated and related to both alterations in theexpression of asparagine synthetase and glutamine synthetase and the onset ofapoptosis. This is done for Nalm-6 and Molt-4 cells cultured in normal conditionsas well as for cells adapted to growth conditions of ASN and GLN deficiency.Furthermore, the effect of ASN and GLN reduction on cell growth is examined. Inconnection with these in vitro studies finally the relative efficacy of ASN and GLNin preventing cell death due to L-ASNase administration is studied in a time-dependent manner. (Coe, 2006, personal communication)

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Antje NentwigBesides heart diseases, cancer is one of the major causesof death in the developed countries. Because modules ofthe course ISTAB at the University of Applied SciencesBremen do not offer such biomedical topics as cancerresearch, I have chosen my internship during the integralyear abroad of ISTAB in this research area.In addition my aim was to learn new methods to enlargemy working skills. Therefore, I decided to do the internshipat KIDSCAN Children’s Cancer Research Centre at the Centre for Molecular DrugDesign of the University of Salford (Manchester, United Kingdom) after my studyyear at this university. Some general information about KIDSCAN was alreadygiven by Jessica Bösch, who did her internship at KIDSCAN as well.My internship was also carried out in the period from 5 June to 01 September2006. Because of the longer study time of my studies abroad ISTAB allowed toshorten the practical abroad. Luckily, the internship was financed by theLEONARDO DA VINCI scholarship of the BAP (Bremer Ausbildungs-partnerschaft).

At KIDSCAN my supervisor Dr. Sylvie Ducki gave me the opportunity to work onmy own and to support different projects of KIDSCAN with results I got. My projectwas called “The biological evaluation of potent anti cancer agents” and dealt withthe performance of different in vitro methods to estimate the cytotoxicity of tubulintargeting drugs, such as chalcones and chalcone analogues as well as a fewprecursors of DNA linking drugs.During my internship I gained a good overview about the theoretical background ofchemotherapeutic drugs, especially those targeting the DNA as well as the proteintubulin in its role in mitosis. In addition, I learned how to organize my own workand time, but also how important the general work in the lab is for a good workingclimate. To help with the set up of a cytotoxic profile and the improvement of thepharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of different drugs, I performed mainlythe following methods in the lab:

• MTT assay, a colorimetric in vitro assay for the evaluation of thecytotoxicity of drugs on five different cancer cell lines; the degree ofcytotoxicity was expressed in form of the IC50 value which is the drugconcentration required for 50 per cent growth inhibition

• Flow cytometry for the analysis of the drug effect on the cell cycle after24h, 48h and 72h drug exposure and of the recovery effect of cells after24h and 48h after 24h drug exposure

• Tubulin assembly assay, a test for the determination of the drugconcentration inhibiting 50% (IC50) of the tubulin polymerisation bymeasuring the change of optical density in a UV-spectrometer

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• Comet assay, a single cell gel electrophoresis assay which measures DNAbreakage in individual cells; the DNA relaxation and the resulting comet tailformation is induced by the DNA damaging agent hydrogen peroxide; DNAlinking drugs connect the DNA in the nucleus leading to no formation ofDNA comet tails

Most of my results will help the chemists at the research centre to improve existentdrugs and to develop new drugs. The internship at KIDSCAN introduced me to acompletely new field of biology and enlarged my knowledge of methods and otherworking procedures as well as of the foreign language and my independentlyworking. It also gave me a good overview of the working procedures and laborganisation of a research institute at a university.

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Patricia WaldenMy practical trainingtook place at theInstitute for Molecular Bioscience in Brisbane that lays in Queensland on the eastof Australia. It was carried out from January 2006 until June 2006.The Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) was established with the financialsupport from the Queensland and Australian Governments as well as a privatedonor in 2000. The major focus of the IMB lies with an understanding of theinformation contained in mammalian genes and proteins and additionally theimprovement of human and animal health through the development of newpharmaceuticals, cell therapies and diagnostics.The group of Associate Professor Jenny Martin in the department of Chemical andStructural Biology has research interests in the discovery and validation of newdrug targets for chronic inflammatory disease, novel antibacterial and anti-virulence agents, protein folding and disease, on development of inhibitors ofadrenaline synthesis and on development of platform technologies for drugdiscovery using X-ray crystallography.The particular focus of my project was to determine the structure of the proteinParalemmin2 (Palm2) for the purpose of understanding its function. Paralemmin2is a membrane bound phospho-protein that is involved in cell shape regulation.Approximately 30% of the human genome consists of membrane- and membrane-associated proteins. The membrane bound protein receptors and ion channelsprovide targets for many existing neuroactive drugs and are the subject ofintensive exploration in the pharmaceutical industry. Paralemmin2 has been foundto be an important membrane bound protein with a modulator function. Genedefects in Paralemmin2 can cause serious diseases such as muscular dystrophyand acrofacial dysostosis.To obtain an improved understanding and knowledge of its structure, Paralemmin2was entered into a series of structural investigations. Protein expression andpurification were the first steps carried out for the testing. Structural analyses wereconducted using Circular Dichroism and Ultracentrifugation. Furthermore, X-RayCrystallography and NMR should help to solve its structural appearance while bothwere complementary methods for small protein structure determination.For the studies, three constructs of Paralemmin2 were produced. Crystals havebeen found in two of these constructs after a trial period of four months. Whilethese crystals are too small for X-ray diffraction further optimisation steps arenecessary.In particular, X-Ray crystallography could be used for structure determination inthe future. Even though no crystals suitable for data collection were achieved,good conditions have been detected.These conditions provide an excellent start for future studies.

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Valentin ChikinIndustrial placement at Diaproph-MedPeriod: 19.06.06 – 16.09.06Diaproph-Med is a biomedical scientific-industrial joint stock company in Kiev, thecapital of Ukraine. The main focal point of the company is the research anddevelopment of safe and marketable ELISA diagnostic test kits for human andveterinary medicine. The maximal annual production output is 20-25 million testkits.My placement has taken place in the Laboratory of Immunochemistry which is partof the R&D department and approved for work with virally infected material, suchas serum samples. The main task of this laboratory is the research andimprovement of the interactions of the components in an ELISA-test system. Thisimplies a profound study of the immunochemical interactions within a system. Theproject I was assigned to was the development and enhancement of a competitiveELISA for the detection of specific antibodies to the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) coreantigen (HBcAg). These antibodies (anti-HBc) are a marker for an acute andchronic or even resolved HBV infection, and persist in the patient’s blood a lifelong.The idea was to develop a more sensitive and specific test system than thecommercially available test-kit “DIA-HBcore”, which is based on an indirect ELISA.The principle of a competitive one-step assay is as follows: Serum is added into awell coated with a specific amount of HBcAg, followed by the addition ofhorseradish-peroxidase (HRP) conjugated anti-HBc. This mixture is incubatedunder certain conditions and then removed by washing the plate. A colourlesschromogen solution is then added to the wells, and the plate incubated again. Ifthe serum sample does not contain antibodies to HBcAg (HBV-negative patient),the conjugate binds to the HBcAb coated to the plate, HRP hydrolyzes thechromogen, which stains the solution. If however, anti-HBc presents in the sample(HBV-positive patient), a competition takes place, and the antibodies from thesample bind to the HBcAg, whereas the conjugate is washed away after the firstincubation. Subsequently, the addition of a chromogen does not cause the solutionto stain at all or results only in a very low intensity. The intensity is then measuredphotometrically.In order to develop such an ELISA with the best possible results, all componentsand steps within the set-up of an assay had to be adapted accordingly. A shortexample is shown below.The micro-titre plate as used in “DIA-HBcore” was not used in the new systemanymore, as it is not standardized and thus would make the test kit ineligible forthe export into countries of the European Union. It was decided to use astandardized plate but with lower HBcAg sorption characteristics. Therefore theconcentration of the coated HBcAg had to varied and adapted. The best source ofthe conjugate and its appropriate concentration had to be found as well. Thecomponents of the conjugate diluent were also modified in order to guarantee theoptimal solubility of the conjugate. Further experiments had been done with

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incubation times, relation of serum sample and conjugate solution, composition ofwashing solutions, etc.The result was a test system which produces better results in terms of sensitivityand specificity and allows a detection of an HBV-infection at an earlier stage than“DIA-HBcore”. Furthermore, the total incubation time was reduced from 2 hours to1 hour.Due to industrial secrets, no details or specifications, such as sources,concentrations, incubation conditions, etc. of the assay have been published inthis report.

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Catharina WiegelInternship in Allentown, PA, USA

My internship took place at BBraun Medical Inc. in Allentown, PA, USA, a privatelyheld, German company, producing medical devices. I spent six weeks insterilization department and a further six weeks in the analytical laboratory fromJune to September 2006. In this time the phases of sterilization, the validation ofthe sterilization equipment and some of the tests in the analytical laboratory wereobserved, assisted or made.The validation of sterilization processes involved the understanding of the entireprocess; therefore the internship part in the sterilization department was theassistance of the work of the Validation Technician. The sterilization process isbased on ETO (ethylene oxide), a simple chemical compound. BBraun UScomplies with the FDA QSR (Food and Drug Administration Quality SystemRegulations) and Industrial Standards. Checking the parameters of everysterilization run to proof the acceptance criteria of FDA are met, was also part ofmy work.The QC Analytical Laboratory was split into the four laboratories chemistry,microbiology, LAL (Limulus Amebocyte Lysate) and cytotoxicity.The main tasks of the microbiological laboratory were Sterility Testing andEnvironmental Monitoring. They are responsible for the release of all products bytesting BIs on growth.The LAL laboratory was also responsible for the release of every production lot.From every single lot solutions were prepared to test them on endotoxin with LAL-KCA (Kinetic Chromogenic Assay) testing. The test was based on the ability of thehorseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus to defend its body from endotoxin. Its bloodcontained a special type of nucleated cells. In contact with endotoxin, theyreleased a protein into the blood that causes blood clotting. The coagulation ofblood killed bacteria and neutralized endotoxin. The animals survived while mostof its blood was clotted. They were caught in the summer month and bleed toharvest a material which was manufactured to the test compound. The crabs werereturned alive to the waters where they were obtained.Some production lots were tested on ETO residuals in the chemistry laboratory.ETO was detected via gas chromatography.In the cytotoxicity laboratory biocompatibility was tested via cytotoxicity. For theassay a solution of every tested product was produced. The solution was added toMouse Cells in complete media. The growth of the cells was observed to proof thatthe product has no effect on the cells.All in all it was a great time with a closer view into the work of laboratories in bigcompanies. Also the contact to all the people I met, some trips to cities at thenorthern east cost and the experience of the American way of live made theinternship to an awesome experience.

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Sofia Lawen

A PLACEMENT AT TEPNEL SCIENTIFIC SERVICES IN EDINBURGH,SCOTLANDINTRODUCTIONAs an obligatory part of the ISTAB B.Sc. Degree Course, an industrial placementof 20 weeks should be spend in a biology company abroad. This was in my casedone during the period March 1until July 21, 2006 at Tepnel Scientific Services Ltd(TSS) in Edinburgh, Scotland. Here will a short overview of the company Tepnelbe given and a brief presentation of most techniques of analysis that TSS areusing, in addition the placement task will be presented.TEPNELTepnel has affiliated companies in the USA, France and in the UK. All together,the daughter companies are offering a broad spectrum of services, e.g. design offood testing kits, development of monoclonal antibodies and microbiologicalservices. TSS in Edinburgh is carrying out pharmaceutical analyses to thebiotechnology and pharmaceutical industries on two areas; analytical chemistryand microbiology.ANALYSIS METHODS PERFORMED AT TSS MICROBIOLOGY DEPARTMENTMicrobiological analyses of pharmaceutical preparations in the form of e.g.powder, tablets, and creams are carried out. Besides medicines are also e.g.tooth side and surgical equipment like swabs tested. Commonly performedanalyses are Total Viable Counts, Absence of Specific Pathogens, PreservativeEfficacy Testing, Sterility Testing, Environmental Monitoring, and Antibiotic Assaysfor to determine the potency of antibiotics and Bacterial Endotoxin Testing aimingto discover Gram-negative bacteria associated endotoxins.THE CONTENT OF THE PLACEMENT TASKAs a part of cGMP and GLP, the first part of the placement mainly included varioustraining. The training reached from the most basic skills, as using the balance tomore complex methods as Preservative Efficacy Testing.My daily quality control work was to prepare disinfecting solutions and to do thetemperature checks on all the incubators and fridges in the department. Growthchecks, sterility checks and pH measurements were performed on commercial andin house media. Reading environmental samples was also a part of the placementtask. This work usually also included typing of the report for the client. If thecustomer required further determination of the growth occurred, the colonies weresub-cultured and analyses by Gram staining the next day. Some mediapreparation was also done.I was also assisting other analysts in their work, performing parts of their tests.E.g. the Antibiotic Assays require agar plates to be set up. Another example is thePreservative Efficacy Testing that required samples to be “spiked” with a knownnumber of organisms. Therefore were standardised organism solutions prepared(e.g. of Aspergillus niger and Pseudomonas aeruginosa), Total Viable Counts

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were carried out on the solutions. Each sample set was then usually inoculatedwith five different organism solutions. The “spiked” samples were then incubatedfor various time periods and plated for Total Viable Counts. The results werecompared with the Total Viable Counts carried out on the organism solutions. Thiswas done for to determine how, when and against which organisms a preservativein a product is effective.

CONCLUSIONThe placement offered an opportunity to work in an environment wherepharmaceutics were analysed. This gave a good overview of the methods that canbe used for this purpose, and the therefore demanded quality control andnecessity of retraceability.It was enjoyable to be a part of the young team at TSS.

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Miriam Stella Mann

My internship took place in the Centre for CarbohydrateBioprocessing (CCB) at the Biological Centre (RijksuniversiteitGroningen) in Groningen (The Netherlands), from 9th of January2006 to the 31st of May 2006. CCB is a collaboration betweenGroningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute (GBB) of theUniversity of Groningen and TNO (Nutrition and Food Research). The members ofCCB deal with different techniques for studying the modification of carbohydrateslike random and site-directed mutagenesis, enzyme purification and biochemicalcharacterization of enzymes.I worked with Marta Palomo i Reixach who is a PhD student in microbialphysiology, on my research project “The investigation of the properties of putativebranching enzymes”. One part of my research project was to characterize putativeglycogen branching enzymes (GBE) in the archeon Methanosarcina barkeri. Inliterature there are no descriptions of glycogen branching enzymes in archaea.With regard to this statement, a gene for a putative glycogen branching enzyme ofMethanosarcina barkeri was examined to check if it has branching enzymeproperties. The subsequent work was to measure the activity, characterize thedegree of branching and detect the optimal working conditions.The other part of my research project was to make Hybrids between Deinococcusradiodurans and Deinococcus geothermalis GBEs. Deinococcus radiodurans andDeinococcus geothermalis are extremophilic bacteria and both GBEs are verysimilar. But on the other hand both enzymes make different products. One reasonfor this major difference could be the C-terminal part because they have differentlengths. The other parts of the GBEs show a high percentage of identity, sopossibility to make hybrids was given. The C-terminal part of Deinococcusradiodurans was cut out and fused to the gene of Deinococcus geothermalis andvice versa. So the genome of Deinococcus radiodurans carried the C-terminus ofDeinococcus geothermalis and vice versa. With these constructs it could be testedif the hybrid genes show the same glycogen branching enzyme activity like theirwild type.

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Iza GötzT-RFLP Analyse der sulfatreduzierenden Bakterien aus dem MeeressedimentIn dem Zeitraum vom 1.03.2006 bis zum 31.08.2006 habe ich am Max-Planck-Insitut für Marine Mikrobiologie in Bremen ein Praxissemester absolviert. Ich warin der Mikrobiologieabteilung in der Arbeitsgruppe von PD Dr. Jens Harderbeschäftigt. Die Mikrobiologieabteilung untersucht die Physiologie und die Vielfaltvon aquatischen Bakterien. Im Labor werden Reinkulturen isoliert und analysiert.Mein Projekt betraf die Analyse der sulfatreduzierenden Bakterien aus demMeeressediment mit der TRFLP-Methode. TRFLP, Terminal Restriction FragmentLängen Polymorphismus, ist eine Methode zur Untersuchung der mikrobiellenGemeinschaften und deren Diversität. Die Methode beruht auf Amplifikation der16sRNA Zielsequenz. Diese Sequenz ist das bekannteste DNA-Stück, etwa 1500Basenpaare lang. Die ribosomale 16sRNA hat Bereiche, die extrem konserviertsind, und andere, in denen Basen häufiger ausgetauscht werden. Innerhalb einerArt findet man jedoch meist mehr als 97% Übereinstimmung in der Basensequenzder 16S-rRNA. Bestimmte Sequenzabschnitte innerhalb der 16S rDNAunterscheiden sich stark je nach Organismengruppe.Meine Sedimentsproben stammen vom Hausstrand Sylt aus zwei Tiefen: 0,5-1 cmund 1-1,5 cm. Die extrahierte DNA habe ich mit Hilfe von fluoreszenzmarkiertenPrimer, (die spezifisch für sulfatreduzierende Bakterien bestimmt waren), in PCRvervielfältig. Weiterhin das entstandene Produkt mit Hilfe der RestriktionsenzymenAlu I und MspI geschnitten, so dass Fragmente verschiedener Länge entstandensind. Mit Hilfe einer Kapillar-Elektrophorese waren die PCR-Produkte nach ihrerFragmentgröße analysiert. Um die Fragmente sichtbar zu machen waren diePCR-Produkte mit einem Fluorescenzfarbstoff markiert, blau für Vorwärts- undgrün für Rückwärtsprimer. Dann habe ich die Fragmente mit einer Software(GeneMapper) analysiert. GeneMapper liefert die Information über dieAmbundance und die Länge (in bp) der entstandenen Fragmente. Die Länge derFragmente sollte einzelnen Bakterien entsprechen. Diese Daten habe ich weitermit MICA (Microbial Community Analysis) analysiert. MICA basiert auf 16S rRNASequenzen von Ribosomal Database Projekt (RDP-II). [http://rdp.cme.msu.edu/],und ermöglicht die bakterielle Diversität zu ermitteln. Aus nur einer Sedimentprobevon der 1-1,5cm Tiefe konnte ich die sulfatreduzierene Bakterien der GattungDesulfovibrio, der zu der Ordnung der Deltaproteobakterien gehört, in großenMengen nachweisen.

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Mirja MeinersInvestigating the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Sinorhizobiummeliloti under different growth conditionsIn the time from January 9th until June 1st 2006 I did my internship at an institute atthe University of Edinburgh, the Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology. Theinstitute is funded by various funding bodies, for example NERC, BBSRC and theWellcome Trust.During my stay I worked together with 4 PhD students and 2 Postdoctoralresearchers. The main focuses on which the students worked were the bacteriaPhotobacterium profundum and Sinorhizobium meliloti.Out of the previous work done on Sinorhizobium meliloti my project evolved. I wasinterested in changes that will occur to the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) duringdifferent growth conditions. First I had to grow the bacterium (parent strain) andsome of its mutants on agar plates. The bacteria were grown under standardconditions, under low oxygen conditions and on agar plates with different pHs. Theplates were put into different incubators (standard and low oxygen). To seechanges that happened to the LPS samples of the bacteria had to be run on DOC-PAGE gels. My aim was to look for hydrophobicity of the LPS that will occur duringthe growth of different conditions. The hydrophobicity could state that changeshappened to the lipid A but for a more clearly statement the samples had to be runthrough a MALDI-TOF which reveals all chemical compounds. Unfortunately, thiswas not possible to do before I left. My results are only assessed by DOC-PAGEgel analysis.By DOC-PAGE gel analysis the LPS will be divided into LPS-1 and LPS-2. LPS-1consists of the O-antigen, the sugar core and the lipid A. The LPS-2 lacks the O-antigen.Results show that the LPS-1 of the parent strain is more hydrophilic during growthunder low oxygen. LPS-2 however becomes more hydrophobic which is likely dueto a modification in the lipid A. If the parent strain grows under different pHs theLPS-1 becomes slightly more hydrophobic and the LPS-2 is hydrophobic. Themutants that were investigated show almost the same pattern. The investigateddouble mutant (acpXL lpxXL) is more hydrophobic during standard growthconditions (LPS-1) and more hydrophilic during growth under low oxygen. TheLPS-2 of the double mutant is under both growth conditions more hydrophobic.One of the mutants (bacA) is hydrophobic during both growth conditions. Thesingle mutants (acpxXL and lpxXL) are more hydrophobic during growth under lowoxygen.

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Nancy HorvathPart of the study course of Industrial Biology at the University of Applied Sciencesin Bremen was a practical placement abroad.This specific practical placement was carried out in a company called DNADiagnostics Ltd located in Liverpool, United Kingdom for the period of 12 weeks.DNA Diagnostics is one of the largest paternity testers in Europe with locations inLiverpool, London, Dublin, Madrid and soon in Germany and France as well. DNADiagnostis Ltd is a private registered company in England and Wales existingsince two years.DNA Diagnostics provides a wide range of different DNA Testing Services such aspaternity, maternity, evidence of family relationship including siblings andgrandparents, probate issues and DNA trace identification.This practical placement was based on DNA testing including processes like DNAExtraction, PCR, Sequencing (capillary electrophoresis) and DNA Profile Analysiswith specific computer programmes.DNA profiling, the identification of a DNA profile based on short tandem repeat, isthe most popular method in human identification. STR short tandem repeats aregenetic loci containing tandemly repeated sequences of two to six base pairs.Each genetic system, called loci, of a person has two numerically labelled alleles.In DNA profiling like paternity testing the alleles of two or more persons arecompared to determine the match meaning the amount of similar alleles betweenthe parents and accordant child. In case of paternity testing a result with onemissed match give evidence for exclusion.Every child inherits half of its DNA from the mother and half from the father. Thismeans that every person has a unique DNA profile consisting of DNA informationof accordant mother and father. This unique DNA profile is set up directly atconception and thus enables prenatal DNA testing, before the child is born. Also itis possible to prove relationships between siblings, between child and an otherrelative and to define a DNA profile from every kind of body fluid, hair or tissue.

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Kristina BurkertThis project has been carried out during my internship at theCellular Immunology Lab at the Queensland Institute of MedicalResearch (QIMR) in Brisbane, Australia. QIMR is Australia’slargest medical research institute and about 850 scientists and staff are searchingfor the causes and future treatments (and vaccines) for more than 30 diseasesand conditions; including AIDS, various cancers, Dengue Fever, and Malaria. Thetopic of my project was “The cytotoxic T cell response to an unusually long viralepitope”.The investigated epitope is the 12-mer SVLGPISGHVLK (SVL) which isrecognised by HLA-A*1101. SVL is encoded by Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV)in the lower matrix protein pp65 which is considered by far to be the mostimmunogenic protein in HCMV. About 50-90% of the adult population is infectedwith HCMV. After primary infection, the virus establishes lifelong latency orpersistence within the host without causing any damage or illness in the healthyhost. However, there are three major groups who are most at risk for HCMVdisease; transplant recipients, newborn babies and immunodeficient individuals.The immune response to HCMV infection includes both the innate and theadaptive immune systems. However, the HCMV-specific cytotoxic CD8+ T cells(CTL) in particular, play a crucial role in clearing the virus infection and thus forprotection against HCMV disease. Whilst CTL usually recognise peptide fragmentswhich are 8-10 amino acids in length and are bound to MHC-class I molecules,recent studies have revealed that peptides longer than 10 amino acids can alsobind. These long peptides bulge out of the peptide binding groove and thus pushthe TCR away from the MHC platform revealing the minimal requirement for MHC-restriction. However, little is known about the CTL response to these unusuallylong epitopes and whether these peptides impose constraints on TCR repertoire orCDR3 length.In this study, I have used the novel methodologies of tetramer cell sortingcombined with TCR mapping to characterise the ex vivo human T cell response toHCMV. The T cell response had been analysed with CTL bulk cultures. Thesewere generated from lymphocytes obtained from healthy, HCMV-seropositivedonors and were first tested with fluorescent HLA-peptide SVL-specific multimers.To characterise the TCR repertoire used against the epitope in persistent HCMVinfection, TCR V protein expression was examined by flow cytometry of CTL bulkcultures. Peptide-specific CD8+ T cells were characterised using a SVL-HLAA*1101 multimer and 24 V -specific monoclonal antibodies. The next step was thecell sorting process which is crucial for sequencing the TCR CDR3 hypervariableregion specific to this epitope.Recent studies have suggested that unusually long epitopes present stericallydemanding, highly bulged ligand structures and thus have a highly public TCRusage. The SVL epitope is a 12-mer and its elicited T cell response was diverseand private. Indeed, this finding is at odds with the studies described above. Myfindings make it clear that not all long peptides generate public responses. Such afinding is indeed significant. Exactly why SVL generates a private repertoire isunknown, however, it is likely that the 3-dimensional presentation of this 12-mer

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viral epitope makes the “fit” with the TCR easier to achieve. Thus, an easy “fit”would allow more TCR combinations to dock. By crystallising the TCRs found inthis particular study, it would be possible to unearth more about MHC restriction ofunusually long viral epitopes in detail.The major long term goal for the future of HCMV is to create therapies designed totreat and prevent not only HCMV but graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) andallograft rejection. Finally, understanding the fundamentals of T cell selection mayone day aid us in engineering custom T cell receptors and antagonists for viral andcancer targets.

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Interview mit einer ehemaligen ISTAB-Studentin

Swantje, Du bist ehemalige Studentin des Internationalen Studienganges fürTechnische und Angewandte Biologie (ISTAB) mit dem SchwerpunktIndustriebiologie der Hochschule Bremen. Während des integriertenAuslandsjahres von ISTAB hast Du Dich entschlossen, im Ausland einenBachelor-Abschluss zu machen und im direkten Anschluss dazu einMasterprogramm zu beginnen.

Im Rahmen eines Interview-Beitrages im Bremen Journal of UndergraduateResearch in Biotechnology möchten wir Dich bitten, uns heute bezüglichdes Einschlagens dieses Studienweges einige Fragen zu beantworten.

1. Die Studienordnung von ISTAB erlaubt es, während des integriertenAuslandsjahres einen Studienabschluss zu erwerben und dasStudium in Bremen dennoch fortzusetzen und mit dem Bachelor-Abschluss zu beenden. Warum hast Du Dich dafür entschieden, DeinISTAB-Studium nach Beenden des Auslandjahres und Erwerben einesAbschlusses nicht fortzusetzen?

Ich absolvierte mein Auslandsstudium in England, Bristol. Es war eine schöne,aber auch anstrengende Zeit. Zum Glück hatte ich nette Housemates und um demStress ein wenig entgegenzuwirken, versuchte ich, meinen Abschluss alsZusatzqualifikation zu sehen: wenn ich ihn bekäme, wäre es gut, sonst hätte ichnoch die Möglichkeit, in Bremen den Abschluss zu machen. Generell schwebtemir aber schon seit längerem vor Augen, im Anschluss an meinen Bachelor einweiterführendes Studium, den Master, aufzunehmen.Ich beendete meinen Auslandsaufenthalt mit einem Abschluss, der dem inBremen sehr ähnlich ist. Es war daher nicht unbedingt notwendig, das Studium inDeutschland abzuschließen.

2. Warum hast Du Dich stattdessen dafür entschieden, direkt imAnschluss ein Masterstudium zu beginnen? Was erhoffst Du Dir vondiesem Schritt?

Da ich den Bachelor im Sommer 2006 erhalten habe und die Masterstudiengängefür gewöhnlich im Wintersemester eines jeden Jahres beginnen, habe ich michentschieden, direkt im Anschluss an meinen Abschluss weiter zu studieren. DerBewerbungsprozess ist sehr zeitaufwendig und auch die Planung eines weiterenAuslandaufenthaltes bedarf einiger Überlegungen, wobei mir meine Erfahrungenaus meinem ersten Auslandsjahr dabei geholfen haben, die Planungszeit zuverkürzen.

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Mit diesem Schritt erspare ich mir zum einen Zeit, da ich ohne Verzögerung weiterstudieren kann und der Master auch nur ein Jahr dauert, zum anderen wechseleich aus beruflicher Sicht ein wenig meine Zielrichtung und setze damit meinenFokus auf eine andere Richtung, wobei mir die angewandte Biologie als guteGrundlage dient und hoffe, damit eine weitere berufliche Fachrichtungeingeschlagen zu haben, die mir ebenfalls Spaß macht und für mich eineZusatzqualifikation darstellt.

3. Wo und in welcher Fachrichtung absolvierst Du Dein Masterstudium?

Ich studiere zurzeit wieder in England, habe die Fachrichtung gewechselt undstudiere „Forensische Anthropologie“.

4. Was ist der Kerninhalt des Studienprogramms und wie lange dauertes?

Im Grunde studiere ich das menschliche Skelett im kleinsten Detail, so dass ichspäter in der Lage bin, gefundene Skelette oder Knochen bzw. das, was davonnoch über ist, zu identifizieren und gegebenenfalls Aussagen über das Individuumzu geben (z.B. Größe, Geschlecht und ethnische Herkunft). Die Studiendauer fürdieses Programm beträgt insgesamt 12 Monate, variiert aber auch von Universitätzu Universität.

5. Wie bereits erwähnt, hast Du vor Beginn des Masterprogrammsbereits einen Bachelor-Abschluss im Rahmen des ISTABAuslandsjahres erworben. An welcher Universität und in welcherFachrichtung hast Du das entsprechende Studium absolviert? Waswar das Thema Deiner Bachelorarbeit?

Ich habe meinen Abschluss an der „University of the West of England“ in Bristolmit einem Bachelor (Hons) of Applied Biological Sciences erworben.Das Thema meiner Abschlussarbeit befasste sich mit kleinen paramagnetischenPartikeln, die als Label in einem Lateral-Flow-Immunoassay dienten. DieseAussage ist jetzt wohl nicht besonders hilfreich, aber eigentlich lässt sich dasVerfahren leicht an einem Beispiel erklären. Jeder kennt vermutlich einenSchwangerschaftstest. Bei diesem Test handelt es sich um einen sogenanntenLateral-Flow-Immunoassay, wobei blaue Latexpartikel als kleine Label für denNachweis des Schwangerschaftshormon hCG (humane Choriongonadotropin)dienen. Ist dieses Hormon im Urin vorhanden, so bindet es an die Partikel undbildet gegebenenfalls zwei blaue Banden, eine Kontrollbande und eine die anzeigt,dass die Frau schwanger ist.

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Meine Bachelorarbeit basierte auf einer ganz ähnlichen Grundlage, wobei indiesem Falle ein Hormon nachgewiesen werden sollte, dass in höherenKonzentrationen vorkommend, mit Prostatakrebs in Verbindung gebracht wird.Während meiner Untersuchungen fand ich unter anderem heraus, dass diesesTestverfahren bisher noch nicht empfindlich genug ist. Es konnten nur sehr hoheKonzentrationen des Hormons ermittelt werden, geringere Konzentrationen leidernicht mehr. Um Prostatakrebs aber rechtzeitig zu behandeln bzw. vorzubeugen istgerade der Nachweis dieser anfänglich geringen Hormonkonzentrationen vongroßer Wichtigkeit. Wäre es also möglich, geringe Mengen des Hormons mit Hilfeeines solchen Tests nachzuweisen, könnte rechtzeitig mit einer Behandlungbegonnen werden. Bisher ist das Verfahren noch in der Anfangsphase, abervielleicht wird es bald Teststreifen geben, die leicht und handlich einsetzbar sind,so dass rechtzeitig mit einer Behandlungen begonnen werden kann.

6. War das ISTAB-Studium eine gute Vorbereitung auf Dein Studium imAusland und Dein momentanes Studium? Inwiefern?

Das ISTAB-Studium hat mir sicherlich zu einem guten Grundwissen undselbständigem Arbeiten verholfen. Die Theorie in den Vorlesungen wurdemeistens direkt durch praktisches Arbeiten im Labor oder Feld umgesetzt. Da dieVorlesungsfolien der meisten Professoren auf englisch waren, wurde man bereitsmit Fachvokabular konfrontiert. Als Vorbereitung auf das Ausland dienten auch dieAuslandsberichte der höheren Semester, genau wie das eigenständige Planenund Bewerben der eigenen zwei Auslandssemester.

7. Inwiefern diente Dein Studium im Ausland als Vorbereitung auf dasMasterprogramm?

Kurstechnisch betrachtet ist diese Frage schwer zu beantworten, da ich dieFachrichtung gewechselt habe. Sicherlich gibt es das eine oder andere, das sichaus dem vorangegangen Studium anwenden lässt, sei es aus dem BereichBotanik, Zoologie, Mikrobiologie oder Projektmanagement. Bezieht man die Frageaber direkt auf das Studium im Ausland, dann habe ich mich während dieser Zeitan das englische Studiensystem gewöhnen können und kann nun dieseErfahrungen in meinem jetzigen Studium anwenden. Generell möchte ich aber andieser Stelle sagen, dass mir das deutsche Hochschulsystem besser gefällt.

8. Welche Hürden galt es für Dich, vor Beginn des Masterprogramms zubewältigen?

Vorab galt es, eine geeignete Universität zu finden. Darauf folgten dann dieBewerbungen, wobei hier, abhängig von der Universität, verschiedene Kriterienerfüllt werden mussten: für ein Masterprogramm verlangen die meisten

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Universitäten einen bestimmten Notendurchschnitt, zudem ein sogenanntes„Statement“, in dem man seine Vorstellungen und Absichten genau darstellt undbeschreibt. Anschließend müssen der Bewerbung noch mindestens zweiReferenzen von zwei Professoren beigelegt werden, die auch die Studienleistungdes Studenten beurteilen können. Gelegentlich laden auch einige Universitäten zuAuswahlgesprächen ein.

9. Gibt es generelle Unterschiede zwischen Deinem Studium in Bremenund Deinem momentanen (z.B. bzgl. Organisation, Betreuung)?

Die Strukturen sind ganz ähnlich, bis auf einige wenige Unterschiede. So findenzum Beispiel Prüfungen und Hausarbeiten im Laufe des Semesters statt und nichtwie in Deutschland überwiegend am Ende des Semesters. Hinsichtlich derBetreuung wurde mir ein Supervisor zugewiesen, mit dem ich über so ziemlichalles sprechen kann, besonders auch dann, wenn es studienbezogene Problemegibt (Probleme mit einem Kurs oder Tutor etc).

10. Was gefällt Dir besonders am jetzigen Studium und Studentenleben?

Das gesamte Studium, meine Kurse gefallen mir sehr gut. Die Studiendauer fürden Master ist auf 12 Monate reduziert und somit werden sämtliche Informationenstark komprimiert an den Studenten weitergegeben. Das Masterstudium ist einVollzeitstudium und erfordert sehr viel selbständiges Arbeiten, das bedeutet, dassman sehr viel neben den normalen Vorlesungen und Praktika erarbeiten muss.Das erfordert viel Selbstdisziplin und ein gutes Zeitmanagement, da man vieleKurse nebeneinander herlaufen hat und entsprechende Hausarbeiten,Präsentationen oder Prüfungen nebenher erarbeiten und bestehen muss.Abgesehen davon versuche ich, diese Zeit mit meinen gestressten Kommilitonenso angenehm wie möglich zu gestalten und natürlich zu genießen. Nur noch einpaar Monate und wir stehen dem Ernst des Lebens gegenüber...

11. Wie sieht Deine zukünftige berufliche Planung aus? Wo siehst DuDich nach Abschluss des Masterprogramms? In welchem Land und inwelchem Berufsfeld möchtest Du arbeiten?

Das kann ich leider noch nicht genau sagen. Mit meinem momentanen Studiumerfülle ich mir einen langersehnten Traum, den ich leider in Deutschland nichterfüllen konnte, da es diese spezielle Fachrichtung dort nicht gibt. Nach demAbschluss würde ich dennoch sehr gerne wieder zurück nach Deutschlandkommen und hier versuchen, eine Anstellung zu bekommen. In welchemBerufsfeld dies jedoch sein wird, weiß ich noch nicht genau. Trotzdem ich mitmeinem Master eine neue Fachrichtung eingeschlagen habe, bin ich nach wie voran Biotechnologie, besonders aber an Bioverfahrenstechnik interessiert und

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könnte mir durchaus vorstellen, mich auch in diesem Bereich weiter zuqualifizieren, Erfahrungen zu sammeln und zu arbeiten.

Swantje, vielen Dank für das Interview und weiterhin viel Erfolg in DeinemStudium.

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Was machen ISTAB-Absolventen nach dem Studium?Die nachfolgenden Tabellen stellen eine (leider noch sehr unvollständige)Übersicht der ISTAB – Absolventen der Jahrgänge 1999 – 2002 dar. DieAbsolventen der Jahrgänge 1999 – 2001 beendeten den Studiengang noch miteinem Diplom. Im Jahr 2002 wurde ISTAB dann in einen Bachelor - Studiengangumstrukturiert.Für die Jahrgänge 1999 – 2002 listen die Tabellen sowohl die jeweiligenInstitutionen der Diplomarbeiten auf als auch die nachfolgendenArbeitsverhältnisse. Für den Jahrgang 2002 sind ausschließlich die nachfolgendenArbeitsverhältnisse aufgelistet.

Diplomarbeit Institution ArbeitsverhältnisMPI, Bremen LAH, Juli 05

ISTAB IUB§, Bremen

AWI, Bremerhaven AWI*, Bremerhaven

Industrie, Cuxhaven

Bayer, Leverkusen Biozoon, Bremerhaven

Micap, Bremerhaven MPI Tübingen *§

MPI, Bremen Octapharma, Köln-Mülheim

Industrie, Cuxhaven *Graduate School Berlin, SS 05

BILB, Bremerhaven/ ISTAB BILB, Bremerhaven

BILB Bremerhaven Promotion FH Niederlausitz ?

Uni, Bremen

Paul-Ehrlich-Inst., Frankfurt Paul-Ehrlich-Inst.*, Frankfurt

BILB, Bremerhaven/ISTAB Pharmaberater Hannover

MPI, Bremen Zentrum f. Humangenetik Uni Bremen)

1999

Industrie, Braunschweig Morphosys, München

* Doktorarbeit; § Wiss. Mitarbeiterin

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Paul-Ehrlich Institut Frankfurt *

Robert-Koch-Institut, Berlin

ISTAB, HS BremenMassey University

NZW, Master Uni Hannover

Uni Bochum * Uni Bochum

ISTAB HS Bremen

- Master HS Lübeck

- Master?

ISTAB, HS Bremen

NIZO Food Res., Ede, Niederlande ttz Bremerhaven

2000

Uni Oldenburg * Inst. Ostseeforschung, Warnemünde / UniRostock

* Doktorarbeit

Biol. Anstalt Müritzsee

ttz Bremerhaven

Molzym GmbH Bremen Molzym GmbH Bremen

Hamburg Effem, Verden 05/2006

Uni Düsseldorf *Australien

Hochschule Hannover

Q-Bioanalytic GmbH Bremerhaven

TU Harburg

2001

ttz Bremerhaven

* Doktorarbeit

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Bachelor Thesis Institution ArbeitsverhältnisAbgang nach Stud. in Salford, BScHon

Projektmanager, ttzBremerhaven

ISTAB, Hochschule Bremen Trainee, Q-Bio Analytic,Bremerhaven

Abgang nach Stud. in Salford, BSc

Abgang nach Stud. in Salford, BScHon?

ISTAB, Hochschule Bremen Master HochschuleBremerhaven

ISTAB, Hochschule Bremen Master Uni Giessen

ISTAB, Hochschule Bremen ISTAB ?

ISTAB, Hochschule BremenWeiterbildung Clinical Studies

Berlin

Abgang nach Stud. in Bristol, BScHon° Master Uni Hagen?

ISTAB, Hochschule Bremen TA IUB Bremen

ISTAB, Hochschule BremenAußendienstmitarbeiterPerkin Elmer

Abgang nach Stud. in Bristol, BScHon

Master England,Promotion England

ISTAB, Hochschule Bremen Master Uni Mainz

Abgang nach Stud. in Salford, BScHon?

Abgang nach Stud. in Salford, BScHon?

2002

ISTAB, Hochschule Bremen Master Uni Oldenburg

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Woher kommen die ISTAB-Studierenden?Der Studiengang Internationaler Studiengang für Angewandte und TechnischeBiologie (ISTAB) an der Hochschule Bremen wird von vielen Studenten mitunterschiedlichen Interessen und Hintergründen aus ganz Deutschland besucht.Um mehr über die Studenten und ihre Entscheidung für diesen speziellenStudiengang zu erfahren, wurden die 37 Studenten im Erstsemester desJahrgangs 06/07 befragt. In dieser Befragung ging es hauptsächlich darum,Informationen über die Außendarstellung der Hochschule, die Attraktivität desStudienangebots und speziell die Motivation zur Aufnahme des StudiengangsISTAB zu gewinnen. Die Beantwortung dieser Befragung lief freiwillig undanonym.

1) Auf welchem Wege haben Sie vom Studienangebot ISTAB derHochschule Bremen erfahren (Mehrfachnennungen möglich)?

Quelle Zahl der StudentenInternet 27

Hochschule Bremen-Homepage 11Andere/ Persönliche Info 10Info-Tag der Hochschule 5

Studienführer Biologie 5Beratung beim Arbeitsamt 4Information durch Lehrer 3

Andere Informationsquelle:Adressen im Internet 2

Plakate 1

2) Haben Sie alternativ zu ISTAB an die Aufnahme eines Biologie-Studiums an einer Universität (z.B. Uni Bremen) gedacht?

Ja 17 StudentenNein 18 StudentenEnthaltungen 2 Studenten

3) Wenn Frage 2 mit Ja beantwortet wurde, warum haben Sie sich fürISTAB entschieden (Mehrfachnennungen möglich)?

Gründe Zahl der StudentenPraxisbezug 25

Integriertes Auslandsstudium 18Kürzere Studiendauer 3Frühre Zusage der HS 2

Fachabitur 2Enthaltungen 19

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4) Haben Sie alternativ zu ISTAB an die Aufnahme eines nicht biologischausgerichteten Studiums an einer Universität gedacht?Ja 8 StudentenNein 29 Studenten

Als alternative Studienrichtung wurden Wirtschaft, Geschichte, Architektur,Politikmanagement, Energie & Umwelttechnik, Landschaftsplanung, Kunst undMedizin genannt.

5) Warum haben Sie sich letztlich für ein Biologiestudium entschieden?Grund Zahl der Studenten

Interesse 23Jobaussicht 23

BTA- Ausbildung vorhanden 3Faszination 3

Zukunftsträchtig 3Enthaltungen 14

6) Haben Sie alternativ zu ISTAB die Aufnahme des Studiums in anderenStudiengängen der Hochschule Bremen erwogen?Ja 12 StudentenNein 25 Studenten

Als alternatives Studium wurden die Studiengänge Bionik, VWL, InternationalerStudiengang für Umwelttechnik und Politikmanagement angegeben.7) War Biologie eines Ihrer Leistungsfächer in Ihrer Schulausbildung?

Ja 18 StudentenNein 19 Studenten

8) Ist ISTAB Ihre erste Berufsausbildung?Ja 23 StudentenNein 14 StudentenVon den 14 Studenten mit Berufsausbildung ist der erste Beruf bei 10 vondiesen ebenfalls im biologisch/ medizinischen Gebiet angesiedelt.

9) Welchen der beiden der beiden Studienschwerpunkte von ISTABfavorisieren Sie im Moment?Industriebiologie 16 StudentenUmweltbiologie 20 Studenten

Impressum: Bremen Journal of Undergraduate Research in BiotechnologyEditors: Dr. Tilman Achstetter (tilman.achstetter@hs-bremen.de)

Dr. Gerd Klöck (gerd.kloeck@hs-bremen.de)Managing editor: Dr. Ing. Anja Noke (anoke@fbsm.hs-bremen.de)

International Degree Course of Industrial and Environmental Biology ISTAB (BSc)Bremer Institut für Praxis der NaturwissenschaftenUniversity of Applied Sciences BremenNeustadtswall 30, D-28199 Bremen, Germany

Kalender

10. Januar 2007 Arbeitsmarkt für Biologen: Eine aktuelle Studie.Öffentl. Präsentation der Studierenden des dritten SemestersISTABOrt: Hansewasser-Hörsaal, UB Gebäude, Neustadtswall 27Beginn: 10:00 Uhr

19. Jan. 2007 Dr. A. Frerix, Nordmilch eG, ZevenVortrag: Milch & Milchinhaltsstoffe: Ein Rohstoff mit vielenAnwendungenOrt: Hansewasser-Hörsaal, UB Gebäude, Neustadtswall 27Beginn: 14:00 Uhr

26. Jan. 2007 Mini-Symposium (in Englisch) zum Thema „Nachhaltige Biotechnologie“ am Beispiel „Artemisin and Malaria“ mit Teilnehmern von der Hanse University Groningen im Institut

für Praxis der Naturwissenschaften

1.-2. Febr. 2007 Zusammenkunft des Beirats der Biotechnologie ISTAB2. Febr. 2007 09h00 – 12h00: Öffentl. Abschlusspräsentation der Siebtsemester von TiGer BioTec R&D 06/07 in Gegenwart

des Beirats

April 2007 Teilnahme (Exkursion) der Viertsemester ISTAB (Biotechnologie) an der Abschlusspräsentation der Absolventen der Hanse University Groningen

(genauer Termin wird noch bekanntgegeben)