Making Medicine

Making Medicine introduces students to biomanufacturing and downstream processing of medicines and therapeutics.

Students will perform protein purification using column chromatography to gain a greater understanding of the biomanufacturing process of going from a cell to a protein to a product. Students will separate a mixture based on the chemical properties of proteins using ion exchange chromatography and then will use spectroscopy to test the purity of their product. The goal of the activity is for students to learn about the multiple steps to the biomanufacturing process and how all the different fields of science and engineering come together when we apply it to make medications

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to

Use a column to separate proteins based on physical properties
Use a spectrophotometer

Students will understand

The cellular process of making proteins can be used in biomanufacturing to create products used in the medical field
Proteins can be identified by both their physical and chemical properties
Molecules like proteins can be separated by their different chemical properties
Changing the strength of a charge on a protein can change its ability to form ionic bonds
How different molecules have different absorption and excitation properties

Standards Alignments + Connections

Next Generation Science Standards Connections

HS-PS1-3. Plan and conduct an investigation to gather evidence to compare the structure of substances at the bulk scale to infer the strength of electrical forces between particles

HS-PS4-1. Use mathematical representations to support a claim regarding relationships among the frequency, wavelength, and speed of waves traveling in various media.

Virginia Science Standards of Learning Connections

PS.3.A pure substances can be identified based on their chemical and physical properties.

PS.7A electromagnetic radiation, including visible light, has wave characteristics and behavior

PS.7B regions of the electromagnetic spectrum have specific characteristics and uses.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills

BIOL.7.D: discuss the importance of molecular technologies such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), gel electrophoresis, and genetic engineering that are applicable in current research and engineering practices.

CHEM.6.C: investigate the mathematical relationship between energy, frequency, and wavelength of light using the electromagnetic spectrum and relate it to the quantization of energy in the emission spectrum

Activity Components

Pre- Laboratory Activity

Introduce students to biomanufacturing by watching this short video from the National Institute of Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals: VIDEO

Activity

DOWNLOAD STUDENT HANDOUT (above)

Biomanufacturing is the process of using cells or other living organisms to create a commercial product. Cells act as a factory where DNA is your instruction manual and proteins are your final products. Biomanufacturing is a way that we use what we know about the Central Dogma of molecular biology to innovate and create medicines and treatments to improve people’s lives.

In a biomanufacturing facility, the work of researchers studying DNA is transformed into a protein processing plant. It is science at scale. Today, you will be a worker in the downstream processing of a protein that has been developed to help reduce the chance of developing heart disease. It will be your job today to isolate that protein away from all the other parts of the cell so that it is pure enough to pass FDA standards.

To do that you will use protein chromatography. Protein chromatography is a method of separating proteins based on their chemistry such as their charge, size, and shape. Once we have our purified protein, we can then send it to quality control, who will ensure that our product is ready to be sent out to patients across the country.

Post-Laboratory Extension

Have students watch this video on synthetic biology from PBS: LINK

Open the class to different discussions on various topics. Students should be able to research in groups on the different aspects of synthetic biology from a health perspective as well as social perspective. Examples:

- Have students discuss the advantages of synthetic biology and how we can use DNA tools to engineer novel proteins
- Bioengineering is using biology to solve problems. What other global problems can we use synthetic biology to solve?
- Is synthetic biology creating life? What problems do you see with synthetic biology?