Master's student in the program "7M05109 - Biotechnology" Artem Kuligin completed a scientific internship at the German National Reference Center

During the implementation of the master's thesis,  a second-year master's student of EP «7M05109 - Biotechnology», Kuligin Artyom, in the period from October 7 to October 20, 2024, passed a scientific internship in the German National Reference Centre for Borrelia at the Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Oberschlaisheim, Germany.

The aim of the scientific internship is to deepen and expand knowledge, as well as to master the methods of isolation and cultivation of Lyme group borreliae and tick-borne relapsing fevers, their full genomic and partial multilocus sequencing, as well as methods of their serologic diagnostics.

During the internship Artyom learned such laboratory methods as preparation of liquid nutrient media for borrelia cultivation; isolation of borrelia strains from tick homogenate samples and their microscopy; real-time PCR (RT-PCR); multilocus sequencing (MLST); visualization of PCR products by gel electrophoresis; ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay).

The scientific internship addresses aspects of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 "Good health and well-being"  and significantly enriched the scientific experience of the master's student regarding the diagnosis of Lyme borrelia and TRF, as well as allowed to explore the possibilities of integrating the laboratory methods into future research projects.