1 Is it genetic?2 BIOLOGY 321 GENETICS MWF 2:30-3:50 am in BI212 Dr. Carol Trent [email protected] Office Hours: Tues, Wed & Thurs 10:30 – 11:30am If you need to see me outside of office hours, please contact me via email to set up a specific appointment time.3 This class meets three days a week for 80 minutes. • We will not have a formal break during the 80 minute session – so much genetics so little time…… • Typically, 50 minutes a week will be set aside for an informal discussion of the lecture material and the problem sets. • These informal sessions may consist of one 50 minute session or two shorter sessions.4 REQUIRED TEXT The 10th edition of Introduction to Genetic Analysis by Anthony Griffiths et al. The 9th edition is OK BUT class discussions of text assignments and problems will use the numbering in the 10th edition5 COURSE WEB SITE http://fire.biol.wwu.edu/trent/trent/Biol321index.html LECTURE DATE COURSE TOPICS The lecture schedule may change without prior notice Week 1 Jan 4 & 6 Introduction to Genetics Mendel & Model organisms; Probability Week 2 Jan 9, 11 & 13 Mendel & Meiosis Morgan & Sex-linkage; Intro to pedigrees Fri Jan 13: QUIZ 1 (25 pts.) Week 3 Jan 18 & 20 MLK Holiday: Jan 16 Independent Study on Pedigree analysis: come to class on 1/18 prepared to analyze pedigrees Pedigrees and more probability Start complications to Mendelian analysis Week 4 Jan 23, 25 & 27 Factors affecting the expression of a genetic trait Wed Jan 25: QUIZ 2 (45 pts. ) Complementation and other gene interactions Week 5 Jan 30, Feb 1 & 3 Gene Interactions continued Multifactorial inheritance and Complex traits Week 6 Feb 6, 8 & 10 Molecular genetics intro: DNA, RNA & proteins Wed Feb 8: Midterm Exam (100 pts.) The molecular basis of mutation Week 7 Feb 13, 15 & 17 Mutagens & effects of mutation on gene function Wed Feb 15: QUIZ 3 (25 pts. take-home quiz distributed) Cancer genetics Week 8 Feb 22 & 24 Presidents Holiday: Feb 20 Independent Study on the Polymerase Chain Reaction: come to class on 2/22 prepared to discuss PCR PCR & Direct detection of mutation Wed Feb 22: QUIZ 3 due Human Genome structure & DNA fingerprinting Genetic linkage and recombination Week 9 Feb 27 & 29, March 2 The generation of a genetic map Positional cloning Fri March 2: QUIZ 4 (25 pts.) Week 10 March 5, 7 & 9 Special topics: Genome-wide Association Studies Polymorphisms that confer resistance to HIV/AIDS Finals Week Final Exam 100 pts on Wed March 14 3:30-5:30pm6 EVALUATION Midterm and Final Exams: 2 @ 100 pts. …... 200 Quizzes: 3 X 25 & 1X 45 pts. …….… 120 Total Points: 320 Ú Grading Correction = 5 pts (see explanation below) Ú Extra Credit Option = up to 8 pts (see explanation below) AUTOMATIC GRADING CORRECTION Ú At the end of the quarter, 5 points will be automatically added to your point total to correct for grading inaccuracies. You will forfeit all 5 points if you request any quiz or exam regrades during the quarter. Ú NOTE: Inquiries or concerns about arithmetic errors in point totals or obvious mis-marks will NOT result in forfeiture of the correction points.7 EXTRA CREDIT OPTION • Extra credit is available for up to a total of 8 pts. • You have an opportunity each week to submit via an electronic form a synopsis of a major-media, legitimate science article concerning genetics. This genetics research discovery/story must have been published in the past 6 months in a scientific journal (such as Science or Nature) or a major newspaper. • Each submission is worth two points. You can only submit ONE and only ONE story in a given week – up to 4 submissions in four different weeks. A “week” is defined by Sunday 12:01AM through Saturday 12:00PM. • All submissions must be via the electronic form you will find at the link on the 321 web site. You must write the synopsis of the research discovery/story yourself; if you cut and paste text from the original source this will result in a loss of ALL extra credit. Plagiarism is ASTONISHINGLY easy to check. • You will receive a verification of the submission when the form has been successfully sent, Unless otherwise notified (within 1 week of submission), this verification indicates that 2 extra credit points will be added to your total grade.8 CLASS PARTICIPATION AND THE 3 X 5 CARDS THAT YOUR INSTRUCTOR CARRIES WITH HER • No points are allocated specifically for class participation BUT: if you have a borderline grade at the end of the quarter, and you attended lectures consistently, were an active class participant and your performance on quizzes and exams has steadily improved, I will “bump” you up to the higher grade. • A borderline grade means that you were within 1 percentage point of the grade cutoff. • To help me learn who you are and to encourage student participation during lecture, I will call on students (at random) using a deck of 3X5 cards. Each card has the name of a student and his/her photo. When I call your name, you will automatically get a check mark (ü) if you are in attendance. You will then be responsible for addressing whatever question is at hand.9 Options for responding to the question 1. Always best: a correct or mostly correct answer (üanother check mark) 2. Also OK: a serious but incorrect answer – which often can be a useful starting point for a discussion (ü also gets a check) 3. Another option: decline and wait for a different question later in the lecture (no check mark but no black mark either…) Best approach—try to answer question even if you are unsure of your answer. At the end of the quarter, students who have lots of check marks will be considered good class participants10 Goal of this course to stuff your brain with genetical knowledge11 Goals of this course (i) To develop your analytical skills via problem solving and data analysis (ii) To introduce you to the science underlying modern genetics (you must learn some facts…) (iii) To help you become sophisticated and critical consumers of scientific information in general and genetic information in specific.12 Goal: To develop your analytical skills via problem solving and data analysis Over the course of the quarter you will receive several reading and problem assignments13 READING ASSIGNMENTS AND PROBLEM SETS • Each week or so a reading and problem set assignment