Admission Requirements
Bachelor’s degree in STEM topics (excluding design)

Learning Outcomes

Following the successful completion of the course, the following main learning outcomes are expected:

Knowledge:

• Main techniques for omic investigations
• Omics approaches to investigate environmental sustainability issues
• Environmental sustainability from a holistic chemical point of view.

Skills:

• Manage the principles of the omics to analyze a complex chemical system
• Predict the evolution of complex chemical systems using the most common analytical tools in chemistry and chemical biology.
• Data acquisition and management for omics analysis

Competences:

• To solve simulated problems focused on waste generation.
• To solve simulated problems focused on pollution.
• To solve simulated problems focused on biodegradation and bioremediation

Programme

The present course aims at introducing the students to the basic principles and concepts of OMICS sciences with a particular emphasis to some tools that are relevant for environment detection from a chemical point of view.

Articulation of the course:

• Holistic description of the environment as a complex and dynamic chemical system
• Basic operating principles of OMICS and major Omics technologies: general concepts in genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics. How to apply the system thinking approach to the environmental analysis for sustainability.
• Application of selected Omics technologies to the environmental analysis: Mass-spectrometry (MS) analyses can be used in quantitative and qualitative experiments; Fourier Transform Infra Red (FTIR) spectroscopy; Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) offers a fast reliable and cheapest methods to define the chemical fingerprint of a chemical system
• Understanding principles behind basic data analysis tasks in Omics, and the integration of Omics data, Critical selection of Methods
• Selected case studies

References

OMICS Applications in Biomedical, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, Debmalya Barh, Vasco Ariston De Carvalho Azevedo, Vasudeo Zambare (Editors) CRD Press

As case studies:

(1) Mattoli, L.; Proietti, G.; Quintiero, C. M.; Fodaroni, G.; Burico, M.; Gianni, M.; Giovagnoni, E.; Mercati, V.; Santi, C. New Insight into the Evaluation of Complex Mixture Biodegradability: An UHPLC-QToF “All-Ion MS/MS” Acquisition Technique for the Untargeted and Targeted Analysis of Pharmaceutical Formulation Biodegradation. Environ. Sci.: Adv. 2022, 1 (5), 725–735. https://doi.org/10.1039/D1VA00038A.

(2) Sharma, P.; Singh, S. P.; Iqbal, H. M. N.; Tong, Y. W. Omics Approaches in Bioremediation of Environmental Contaminants: An Integrated Approach for Environmental Safety and Sustainability. Environmental Research 2022, 211, 113102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.113102

Teaching Methodology

Please, specify the teaching methodology to be used, such as:

• Lectures;
• Independent Study;
• Problem–based Learning;
• E–learning. 

ECTS Credits
7.5 ECTS credits.

Period
II semester (STEM)

Examination methodology
The students' learning outcomes will be evaluated by the presentation of literature papers conducted as a group by the students. During the presentation, the learning of the omics methodologies and their use according to the program carried out during the course will be verified.

Relevance
Omics techniques represent a fundamental tool for understanding the molecular complexity not only in biological systems but, in general, of all interconnected chemical systems (such as the environment). Although this course will be able to deal with the chemical-spectroscopic aspect in a basic way, it will offer the student the opportunity to appreciate how environmental sustainability is a truly complex system which therefore must be tackled and studied through a system thinking approach.

Status
New Course