Courses
All Molecular Biology courses are currently listed as "Molecular Biology" or "MB" courses. See the Molecular Biology courses in the course catalog for a summary of regular course offerings.
Courses
Course Description
Presents students not majoring in molecular biology with inquiries into contemporary issues and phenomena in the biological sciences. Activities include lectures, readings, discussions, and laboratory or field experiences. May not be counted toward a molecular biology major. (May meet the laboratory/field requirement for critical perspectives.)
Course Description
A non-majors course covering the basic principles of classical and molecular genetics, and discussions concerning the impact of genetics on biological research, health care, ancestry, the legal system, and society. Course includes a laboratory component.
Course Description
Introduces laboratory techniques and data analysis in molecular biology. Fundamentals of cell biology and microbiology.
Course Description
Structures and functions of biomacromolecules, organelles, and cells and the flow of energy and information within and among them. Provides an introduction to molecular and cellular biology, with emphasis on how to address questions experimentally.
Course Description
Laboratory techniques common in contemporary research in genetics, cell biology, and molecular biology. Introduction to research ethics.
Course Description
Mentored research projects based on laboratory investigation.
Course Description
Special topics not offered on a regular basis. Lecture/Discussion.
Course Description
Nature, transmission and expression of hereditary information; lecture and discussion will include principles of molecular and transmission genetics with an emphasis on contemporary molecular genetic research.
Course Description
An introduction to selected quantitative models drawn from ecology, genetics, and physiology. For each model the course includes an investigation of the mathematical methods used, an evaluation of the model, and some elementary simulation techniques. (Offered alternate years).
Course Description
Special topics not offered on a regular basis. Lecture/discussion.
Course Description
Primary literature-intensive investigation of a selected topic in molecular biology.
Course Description
This course provides an introduction to how genome scale data are collected, analysed, and interpreted. A variety of applications for the use of genomic data are presented, and students have the opportunity to carry out a research project using bioinformatics and genomics methods for data analysis.
Course Description
Bacteria, viruses, and eukaryotic microbes with emphasis on infectious agents that cause significant human disease. Laboratory work on cultivation and identification of microbes. Satisfies most pre-health requirements for a microbiology course with laboratory. Satisfies the 300-level lecture/discussion requirement for the Molecular Biology major.
Course Description
Genetic, molecular, cellular, and developmental aspects of the immune system central to generation and regulation of immune responses. Through lecture, primary literature discussion, and case studies, this course explores individual components and complex interactions governing the mammalian immune system. Course emphasizes the experimental foundations and approaches of modern immunology.
Course Description
This class will extend students’ understanding of genetics and molecular/cellular biology to the nervous system. Using case studies of sensory systems and neurological disorders, we will explore topics like ion channels and electrical signaling, synaptic transfer, and axonal transport. This class will rely on discussion and presentation of the primary literature, and culminate in a formal debate of the theories of olfaction, as well as a final project in which students design experiments to test their own hypotheses. Lecture/Discussion.
Course Description
Special topics in Biology not offered on a regular basis.
Course Description
Special topics not offered on a regular basis. Laboratory intensive
Course Description
Laboratory-intensive course that covers the classical transmission genetics and modern molecular genetics techniques. Course emphasizes experimental design, techniques, data gathering, data analysis, and technical science writing. Topics may include genetic mapping, phenotypic analysis, sequencing, analysis of gene expression, RNA interference, and transgene construction. Laboratory intensive.
Course Description
A laboratory-intensive course with supplementary discussions and lectures. Topics include experimental design and analysis, genetic manipulation of bacterial plasmids and chromosomes, bioinformatical analysis of bacterial genomes, and physiological analysis of mutants. Laboratory intensive.
Course Description
This laboratory-intensive course provides a hands-on introduction to asking biological questions at the whole-genome level. Students gain experience preparing samples for high-throughput sequencing and analyzing the data.
Course Description
Laboratory-intensive, inquiry-based course that focuses on techniques in cell biology, with an emphasis on understanding the cell biology. Modern molecular biology techniques may also be employed. Course emphasizes experimental design, techniques, data gathering, data analysis, and technical science writing. Techniques may include: mammalian cell culture, flow cytometry, Western blotting, quantitative PCR (qPCR), microscopy, molecular cloning, RNA interference, proliferation assays, and cell-cycle analysis.Topics may include: cellular signaling, cellular metabolism, phenotypic analysis, analysis of gene expression.
Course Description
Mentored research projects based on laboratory investigation, using techniques or concepts introduced ingenetics. Laboratory intensive. Taught as an extended format course over four blocks, or over half block.
Course Description
Mentored research projects based on laboratory investigation, using techniques or concepts introduced in genetics. Laboratory intensive
Course Description
Special topics not offered on a regular basis. Lecture/Discussion.
Course Description
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that are capable of self-renewal and have the potential to develop into specialized cells types. Stem cells are important for development, reproduction, growth, healing, and homeostasis. Course covers the microenvironments that are required to maintain stem cells, asymmetric cell division, the genes required for stem cell fate, the use of stem cells for medical applications, and ethical considerations. Course includes lectures, discussion of primary research articles, student presentations, and a writing assignment. Lecture/Discussion.
Course Description
The molecular genetics, cell biology, and biochemistry of viruses, including attachment to, entry into, and synthesis and assembly inside of host cells. Through lecture and discussion, the course emphasizes the experimental basis of biologists’ understanding of the molecular details of DNA replication, transcription, translation, gene regulation, protein localization, cell division, and signal transduction, and how viruses manipulate, subvert, and exploit these cellular processes.
Course Description
Contemporary approaches to the study of nervous system development with emphasis on molecular and genetic techniques. Topics include neural induction, neural stem cells, axon guidance, synapse formation, neuronal life and death, and other topics. Readings will be primary research articles with reviews and textbook chapters as background. Lecture/Discussion.
Course Description
In his 1966 Nobel lecture, Peyton Rous described cancer as follows: “Tumours destroy man in a unique and appalling way, as flesh of his own flesh which has somehow been rendered proliferative, rampant, predatory, and ungovernable. They are the most concrete and formidable of human maladies, yet despite more than 70 years of experiment study they remain the least understood.” It goes almost without saying that we’ve come a long way in our understanding since 1966. This course will examine the molecular and cellular hallmarks of cancer. In addition to the discussion of seminal and recent primary research articles, this course will include mini-lectures, a writing assignment, and studentpresentations or a creative project. Lecture/Discussion.
Course Description
Molecular and cellular basis for sex determination and differentiation, with an emphasis on evolution and diversity in sexual systems across the tree of life. Course content includes scientific discoveries in the field and their historical context from ethical and feminist perspectives. Lecture/Discussion.
Course Description
Seminar-style course exploring not only the science related to a topic in molecular biology but also related social issues. Topic will be selected by faculty on an annual basis and announced to majors before pre-registration. Examples of possible topics include genetic screening and testing, stem cells and medical therapeutics, international pandemics, and cancer.
Course Description
Advanced mentored research projects based on laboratory investigation, using techniques or concepts introduced in genetics. Laboratory intensive.
Course Description
Writing of the senior thesis based on data from an undergraduate research project. The thesis topic is to be chosen by the student following consultation with a member of the Molecular Biology Department faculty who agrees to serve as the project and thesis advisor.
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