Modern Techniques in Cellular Biology (Theory)

CRISPR & Genome Editing CRISPR-Cas9 mechanics, guide-RNA design and DNA repair outcomes, contrasts knock-outs, knock-ins and base-editing, and shows how dCas9 fusions enable gene activation or repression. Students compare delivery routes plasmid, ribonucleoprotein, viral and lipid-nanoparticle then evaluate off-target detection strategies before a mini-lab in which they design a gRNA and screen predicted off-targets.

Flow Cytometry & Cell Sorting Learners review flow-cytometer fluidics, optics and fluorochrome chemistry, interpret forward/side scatter plots for cell size and granularity, and build multi-colour antibody panels with compensation. They perform cell-cycle, apoptosis and immunophenotyping assays, study FACS sorting logic and viability checks, and finish with a hands-on run of a four-colour immunophenotyping panel.

Live-Cell Imaging This unit covers phase-contrast, DIC and fluorescence time-lapse microscopy, stressing environmental control through on-stage incubators and microfluidic perfusion. Students deploy fluorescent reporters such as GFP fusions and calcium biosensors to track motility, division and signaling, learn to minimise phototoxicity and manage large image datasets, then conduct a 12-hour GFP- cell time-lapse demo.

Single-Cell RNA-Seq & Multi-Omics Participants examine single-cell isolation by droplets, microwells or FACS, walk through barcoding, library preparation and sequencing, and run a basic bioinformatics pipeline for quality control, normalization, clustering and UMAP/t-SNE visualization. They identify cell types, trajectories and rare populations, glimpse CITE-seq and spatial transcriptomics, and explore a public scRNA-seq dataset in R/Python during a workshop.

Advanced Fluorescence & Super-Resolution Microscopy Confocal and two-photon fundamentals, followed by super-resolution strategies STED, SIM and PALM/STORM plus functional techniques such as FRET, FRAP and FLIM for probing protein interactions and dynamics. Learners plan multiplexed staining with spectral imaging, discuss clinical applications including FISH and diagnostic immunofluorescence, and acquire and process a confocal z-stack in a practical sessions.