20275 Genetics 1
Credits: 6 intermediate and 2 advanced credits in Life Sciences
Prerequisites: none
Required: General Biology I, General Biology II, Biochemistry I
Recommended: Cell Structure and Function (single-semester format or year-long format), Introduction to Statistics and Probability for Science Students
The course is based on a translation of Introduction to Genetic Analysis, 9th ed., by A.J.F. Griffiths, S.R. Wessler, R.C. Lewontin and S.B. Carroll (W.H. Freeman and Company, 2008).
Genetics is a branch of Life Sciences that deals with genes, heredity, and how genes are involved in determining the characteristics of organisms. Genetics provides the means to examine the function of genes, and enables us to investigate the mutual activity of all the genes in the organism and the influence of genes on populations. Since the 1970s, the study of genetics has undergone a comprehensive change due to astounding discoveries that have far-reaching significance for all the Life Sciences, as well as implications and the potential for unprecedented application in agriculture and medicine. This year-long course discusses these innovations in detail, without neglecting other aspects, and major branches of classical genetics. The course includes three mandatory laboratory sessions.
Topics: Part I: The genetic approach to biology, single-gene inheritance, independent assortment of genes, mapping eukaryote chromosomes by recombination, the genetics of bacteria and their viruses, gene interaction. Part II: DNA: structure and replication, RNA: transcription and processing, proteins and their synthesis, regulation of gene expression in bacteria and their viruses, regulation of gene expression in eukaryotes, the genetic control of development, genomes and genomics. Part III: The dynamic genome; mutation, repair, and recombination; large-scale chromosomal changes; population genetics; quantitative genetics; evolutionary genetics. Part IV: DNA recombinant technology and applications.
1In its previous version, this course was called From Mendelism to Genetic Engineering.
There is some overlap in the content of this and other courses. For details, see Overlapping Courses.