Course aims to transfer biotech skills across the scientific community

A seven-day EU advanced course on the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and its applications will be held in Galway, Ireland, on 26 and 27 March 1999. The course is being organised with assistance from the European Union's BIOTECH and Leonardo da Vinci programmes.

The workshop will be hosted at the Irish National Diagnostics Centre (NDC) with the key objective of transferring skills and techniques from molecular biology throughout the European scientific and industrial communities. The course will focus particularly on the applications of the PCR technique, with lectures and practicals on technical skills being led by experts in the field from Belgium, France, Denmark, Germany, Britain, and Ireland.

The following topics will be covered by the course:

- Basic PCR technique and gel electrophoresis;
- Bacterial detection and identification of nosocomial infections;
- Viral detection and identification;
- Diagnosis of human genetic disease and screening for genetic mutation by PCR;
- Solid-phase PCR and solid-phase detection formats;
- Applications of PCR in analysis of gene expression.

A short, multiple-choice question examination will be given at the end of the course, so those attending may prove they completed the course.
For more information, please contact:

Dr Maura Glennon
Course organiser
National Diagnostics Centre
National University of Ireland
Galway
Ireland
Fax +353-91-586570