The overall "plot" of The Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Virtual Laboratory is that the student is a new employee at the biotechnology company "Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Virtual Laboratory". After going through a new employee orientation and an orientation to the scientific method, the student "employee" undertakes his/her first scientific project: To research and develop a new biopharmaceutical drug, "ProRenata" (prn), a ficticious protein that could be the next "magic bullet" cure for cancer!

• Orientation to the pharmaceutical industry and scientific method (Module 1)
  
  
• Protein discovery, small-scale protein isolation and sequencing (Module 1)
  
  
• Gene cloning (Module 2)
  
  
• Development of an expression system for recombinant protein production (Module 3)
  
  
• Purification and isolation of the recombinant protein. (Module 4)
  
  
• Recombinant protein dosage from design
  (Module 5)
  
  
• Preclinical and clinical testing for FDA approval (Module 6)

For a description of the software's Student Learning Objectives / Desired Outcomes, click here (pdf).