Molecular
Biology. 3100:480/580.001 3 credits
Spring 2004 M,W 3:
Instructor. Dr. Amy Milsted Rm ASEC 279 Phone:
330-972-7976
e-mail: milsted@uakron.edu
Office hours: Mon.
Biology dept. office
phone: 330-972-7155
Required text.
"Molecular Cell Biology", Fifth
Edition, 2003, by Lodish H, Berk
A, Matsudaira P, Kaiser CA, Krieger M, Scott MP, Zipursky SL, Darnell J.
W.H. Freeman and Company,
For your own benefit
you should answer the questions in "Review the Concepts" at the end
of each chapter.
Supplementary materials. Most of these are
available for examination in my office.
There are many good textbooks
available. In addition to the required text
I recommend "Molecular Biology of the Cell", Fourth Edition, 2002, by
Alberts B, Johnson A, Lewis J, Raff M, Roberts K,
Walter P.
It is often helpful to review a
biochemistry text, as well.
Additional readings from various
scientific journals may be recommended during the semester. For more details on a subject, see the "References"
lists at the back of each chapter in the book.
Course Description.
This course will include the
fundamentals of molecular biology including recombinant DNA technology,
applications in biotechnology, medicine and genetic engineering. Much of the course will be geared toward
understanding mechanisms of gene regulation.
Areas of genetics, chemistry/biochemistry and cell biology will be touched
upon. While the textbook will be our
guide, we will not include everything in the book.
Class
lectures and old exams will be posted on the instructor's homepage at http://gozips.uakron.edu/~milsted
Prerequisites. Genetics and Cell & Molecular Biology, or
permission of the instructor
Drop dates.
Jan. 26, last day to withdraw without adviser's signature
March 5, last day to withdraw without instructor's signature
April 9, last day to withdraw for Spring 2004
Course Goals.
The emphasis of this course is on
applying the material presented in class to problem solving. This requires that first we learn the basic
principles underlying modern molecular biology.
The general principles of each area are more important than memorizing
details of each topic. This will allow
students to understand the molecular basis for biological properties such as
dominant and recessive alleles in genetics, actions of hormones in development,
and the full range of biological processes.
After completing this course the student should have knowledge of the
principles of gene therapy and the use of DNA testing in forensics, for
example.
Course
Requirements.
Students must attend class, take all
3 exams and complete a research paper.
All
students are required to write a paper, on a topic to be chosen after
consultation with the instructor. For
example, we might chose a primary reference published in a research journal in
2003 and write a short report (at least 6 typed pages), based on the
paper. Include enough background and
supplementary material to interpret the data in the primary reference. Consult a minimum of 3 additional published
research papers and correctly reference them.
Your report can be a critical review of a scientific paper, including an
analysis of the authors' work compared to studies previously published by other
investigators. A 2 page outline of the
paper is due 3 weeks before the end of the semester. The paper is due the last week of the
semester.
Graduate students are also required
to give an oral presentation of a current scientific article. We will schedule a time for these
presentations towards the end of the semester.
Course Policies.
Attendance at all classes is
expected.
No cell phones or beepers in use during class.
No use of tobacco products or alcoholic beverages in class.
Lectures may be recorded.
All visitors to class must be
approved in advance.
Any student who has a disability that substantially limits
learning in a higher education setting may contact the Office of Accessibility
for information regarding his/her eligibility for reasonable accommodations
In case of
bad weather or other events that might affect the University, call (330)
972-SNOW to learn if the University is open for classes.
Academic Honesty
Policy.
Plagiarism: Theft of someone
else’s work, words or ideas will not be tolerated. This includes plagiarizing material that is
posted on the Internet. It is also not
acceptable to include extensive, direct quotations from another source, even if
that material is enclosed in quotation marks.
If you have questions regarding what constitutes plagiarism, consult the
Instructor before you submit your paper to be graded.
Any
evidence of plagiarism will result in a grade of F, not only for the paper, but
also for the entire course.
Grading. A course grade of A requires
approximately 90-100%
B
80-89%
C
70-79%
D
60-69%
F
less
than 60% or evidence of plagiarism
Course grade for 580.001
Course
grade for 480.001
Midterm exam I 20%
Midterm exam I 25%
Midterm exam II 25%
Midterm
exam II 25%
Paper
20%
Paper 25%
Oral presentation 10%
Final
exam 25%
Final exam 25%
All
exams are essay. A typical exam consists
of 10 questions, 8 of which are selected by each student to answer,
During exams - no radios, tape players or headsets. No calculators,
electronic translators or computers.
Make-up exams will be administered only in cases of extreme
emergency. To be eligible for a make-up
exam, written documentation of the reason for your absence must be
provided. For example, proof of visit to
a doctor's office or emergency room, proof of involvement in an auto accident,
etc. In addition to providing written
documentation you must notify the instructor or the Biology Dept. Office by the
day of the regularly scheduled exam.
Those phone numbers are listed above.
Make-up exams will be given from 1-7 days after the scheduled exam date. All make-up exams will be oral, and no
options for choice of questions to be answered will be available.
Tips on how students do well in this course.
Read each chapter before attending class. If you have questions about the material
presented, or if it is not clear, ask questions during class. No question is too simple to be asked. If the instructor goes too fast, let her know
immediately.
Attend class and take good notes. You can't take good notes if you have not
previously read the book or assigned papers.
Review your notes each day and if you have questions, see the instructor
the same or the following day. Do not
wait until the week before the test to talk to your instructor.
Study with other students in the class.
Tentative Course Calendar.
The
exam dates and deadlines for other assignments should be considered
definite. The chapters covered on each
exam will be made clear as the course progresses. The exams are not cumulative, except that to
understand the material we will cover later in the course you need to have a
good foundation on the basics that we review in the first part of the course.
Topic
Chapter
Introduction and
overview
1
Chemical foundations
2
(omit section 2.4)
No class (Martin Luther
King, Jr. Day)
Jan
19
Protein structure and
function
3
Basic molecular
genetic mechanisms 4
Purification of cells
and components
5
(sections 5.5 and 5.6 only)
Cultured cells
6
(section 6.7 only)
Midterm Exam 1
Feb
11
Molecular genetic
techniques and genomics 9
Molecular structure
of genes and chromosomes 10
Transcriptional
control of gene expression 11
Midterm Exam 2
March
17
Spring Recess
March 22-27
Post-transcriptional gene control
12
No class
March 31
Cell birth, lineage
and death
22
TBA
April 19, 21
Last class
April 28
Final exam
Wed. May 5,
Due dates for assignments: April 5
All students: outline of paper due [2 pages]
April
12
Graduate
students: paper for presentation selection
April
26
All students: papers due
Outlines, papers and
topic selection can all be completed before
these due dates.
Listed below are some
useful Web sites.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ GenBank, other databases, searches,
other tools at NCBI; PubMed
http://www.wi.mit.edu/ Biocomputing, software, other Whitehead Institute, MIT
http://mcb.harvard.edu/BioLinks.html Harvard University Dept. of Molecular
and Cellular Biology
http://www.metacrawler.com/ Search the search engines - good for
everything, science or non-science.