Introduction to Molecular and Cell Biology BIOL 499-02 Fall 2017 Class time: Lectures: Tuesday, Thursday 8:30 am 9:45 am Location: Name of Faculty: Contact details: Laboratory: 2:00 pm-4:00 pm; Monday or Thursday section Sherwin Room for Lecture. Studio Lab for laboratory sessions. Prof Rodney King rodney.king@wku.edu Office hours: tba Course Description Biology 499: Introduction to Molecular and Cell Biology (4) Introduction to molecular and cell structure, relating molecular structure and function to cell structure and function. Special emphasis on protein and nucleic acid structure and function and their role in coordinating cellular activities. Four credit hours (includes lecture and lab). Prerequisite: General Biology 107 (UE) and 107L (UE) with a grade of C- or better. Chemistry 118 (UE) and 118L (UE) or permission of instructor. Credit Hour Policy Statement This class meets the federal credit hour policy of: Combination of standard lecture and other activities e.g. A combination of lecture + laboratory, or similar, for a total of 45-75 hours of supervised learning activities for each credit. General Education Objective This course meets the General Education requirements for:- None applicable Learning Objectives Listed below are the Learning Objectives for the course: LEARNING OBJECTIVES (Lecture) After completing this course, you should be able to: 1. Describe the basic biochemical properties of the major cellular macromolecules including proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates and lipids. 2. Identify and understand cellular structures so that you can a. Explain the diversity and function of different cellular structures b. Compare and contrast prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells 3. Understand how energy is manipulated in biological systems so that you can a. Explain how cells obtain and transform energy b. Explain the central role of enzymes as biological catalysts c. Explain mechanisms of metabolic regulation 4. Understand the mechanisms by which an organism s genome is passed on to the next generation, so that you can: a. Explain how DNA is replicated
5. Understand how genes are organized into genomes, the functions of different DNA sequence elements, and how these sequences can be mutated so that you can: a. Predict the phenotypic consequences of mutations. b. Explain why some mutations do not result in discernable phenotypes. c. Explain how DNA damage occurs and how it is repaired d. Explain mechanisms that generate genetic diversity 6. Understand the Central Dogma of Biology so that you can a. Explain the steps in gene expression and compare and contrast how these steps are accomplished in bacteria, archaea and eukarya b. Explain mechanisms of gene regulation at the level of transcription, translation and posttranslation c. Describe exceptions to the Central Dogma 7. Understand molecular and cellular interactions so that you can a. Explain how proteins reach their final destinations in a cell b. Explain signal transduction and its regulation 8. Explain methods for studying and manipulating cells, so that you can: a. Explain how plasmids and bacteriophages are used in molecular biology b. Explain primary research literature and interpret the experimental data c. Identify appropriate methods to investigate the structures and functions cellular components Further Information about the Course LEARNING OBJECTIVES (Laboratory) Students will: 1. Master pipetting correctly and accurately. 2. Learn essential laboratory techniques such as how to make solutions, aseptic technique and others. 3. Perform experiments to understand biochemical properties of buffers, amino acids, proteins and enzymes. 4. Investigate scientific literature. 5. Use the scientific method and develop troubleshooting skills 6. Collect data and present a scientific poster presentation. 7. Learn common molecular biology skills such as DNA isolation, PCR and gel electrophoresis. Other requirements: You will need a lab coat or similar outer covering to protect you and your clothing Closed toe shoes, full shirts (no crop tops), shorts or pants to the knee are required. Long hair must be pulled back in a fixed closure, tossing it back continually is not acceptable. Failure to come appropriately dressed will result in your dismissal for that day. Cell phones, food and drinks are not allowed in the laboratory. Failure to comply will result in your dismissal from class. ATTENDANCE: Attendance in lecture and laboratory is required. Your attendance and participation in this class is essential to you learning the material. It is extremely important that you attend every class session in order to help you do your best in this course. You are expected to arrive on time and remain for the entire class period. Important course announcements are often given at the beginning of class.
Quizzes and exams will be given at the start of class as well. Extra time will not be allowed for quizzes or exams if you are late to class. Credit will not be given for any missed quizzes or exams. If you do miss a class, it is your responsibility to get any missed notes or handouts. Field trips in this course are a mandatory part of the course and do incur a fee. A minimum of three field trips will be scheduled. Only 2 unexcused absences are allowed. Additional unexcused absences will result in lowering the final grade one letter for each absence. To be excused, illnesses require a signed certificate from the College nurse CLASSROOM CIVILITY: Students are expected to assist in maintaining a classroom environment that is conducive to learning and respectful of the instructor and fellow students. The time spent in the classroom is to be a time of intellectual growth, thus students are prohibited from using cellular phones, making offensive remarks, reading newspapers, or engaging in any form of distraction. Inappropriate behavior shall result in, minimally, a request to leave class. Schedule of topics Lecture Schedule DATE Topic Chapter Readings 8/28 Overview of Cells and Cell Research 8/31 Cell Composition 9/5 Cell Composition and Metabolism 9/7 Metabolism 9/8 Note: Class on Friday as make-up for classes missed on Sept 28th: Molecular Biology Fundamentals 9/12 Molecular Biology Fundamentals 9/14 Molecular Biology Fundamentals 9/19 Exam 1 9/20 Wednesday Field Trip Day trip to Cambridge / Cavendish Lab 9/21 British Studies Field Trip: Make up day 9/22 9/22 Note: Class on Friday as make-up from British Studies field trip: Cell Structure and Function 9/26 Genome Organization 9/27 LONG WEEKEND 10/3 Genome Organization 10/5 Replication/Recombination and Repair 10/10 Replication/Recombination and Repair 10/12 Exam 2 10/17 British Studies Field Trip Make up day 10/18 10/18 Transcription 10/19 Transcription, RNA processing and turnover 10/24 Translation 10/26 Translation, processing and regulation 10/31 Protein turnover
11/2 Protein Sorting and Transport 11/3 Note: Class on Friday as make-up for Nov 9: Protein Sorting and Transport 11/7 Exam 3 11/8 LONG WEEKEND 11/14 Cell Signaling 11/16 Cell cycle 11/21 Cell Death 11/22 Wednesday Field Trip Oxford Day Trip / Science Walking Tour 11/28 Cancer 11/30 Course Wrap-Up/Review Final Exam Final examinations take place between 2 nd and 5 th December, date to be notified. Laboratory Schedule (2:00-4:00pm; applies to the Monday and Thursday lab sections) Week 1 (8/28 or 8/31) Basic laboratory safety, expectations and policies, lab math, pipetting exercise Week 2 (9/4 or 9/7) Microscopy Week 3 (9/11 or 9/14) Biochemical properties of proteins Week 4 (9/18 or 9/22 Friday) Enzyme assay Week 5 No Lab / Long Weekend (9/25 or 9/28) Week 6 (10/2 or 10/5) Molecular Biology skills: Plasmid DNA isolation Week 7 Lab Exam 1 (10/9 or 10/12) Molecular Biology skills: Restriction digestion Week 8 (10/16 or 10/19) Molecular Biology skills: Ligation and Transformation Week 9 (10/23 or 10/26) Molecular Biology skills: Examine and interpret transformation results. Wolbachia project: Isolate DNA from insect Week 10 (10/30 or 11/2) Molecular Biology skills: Wolbachia project: isolate DNA from control insects Week 11 No Lab Long Weekend (11/6 or 11/9) Week 12 (11/13 or 11/16) Molecular Biology skills: Wolbachia project: Set up PCR reactions including controls Week 13 (11/20 or 11/23) Molecular Biology skills: Wolbachia project: Perform gel electrophoresis and interpret results Week 14 Exam 2 (11/27 or 11/30) Student Presentations Key Text(s): There is a lab fee for this course. In accordance with University policy, this fee will be automatically charged to your student account. Teaching Methods Key Text(s): The Cell: A Molecular Approach, Seventh Edition by Geoffrey M. Cooper and Robert E. Hausman. (ISBN 978-1-60535-290-9) Available for purchase on arrival at Harlaxton, price 59.99
The text contains problems and exercises at the end of each chapter. These problems and exercises are important in understanding text material and may be used on quizzes and exams. Protocols and background reading for labs will be provided on the course blackboard site Assessment and Grading Criteria GRADING AND EXAMS: Student grades will determined as follows: Exams #1-3 30 % Final 10 % Quizzes 10 % Reflection Essays/Field trips/homework 25 % Labs 25 % There are 325 possible points for the laboratory. Exam 1. 100 Exam 2. 100 Notebook. 80 Quizzes or assignments 45 Total. 325 The laboratory grade is a percentage based on the points earned out of the total. This percentage contributes 25% of the final course grade as shown above. EXAM FORMAT (Lecture): There will be 4 examinations. All exams will be given in class. In class exams start at the beginning of class on the scheduled day and are to be complete by the end of the class period. No extra time will be given if you are late to class. The final exam will be given as per the final exam schedule. Fair game for exams is material from lecture notes, handouts, anything in the assigned reading from the textbook not covered during lecture, and outside reading as assigned. Exams will include a variety of question formats, i.e. multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, identify, diagram, and short answer or essay. Tests will be used to not only evaluate the amount of knowledge you have gained but also to test your ability to apply your new found information and skills. You are expected to write your answers legibly using proper English grammar. If I can t read your answer or it is unclear or incomplete, you will not receive full credit. Make-up exams will be given only in the case of university approved excused absences. If an exam is missed due to a university-approved excuse, you must contact me a minimum of 1 day prior to the missed exam and I will schedule the make-up day and time. Failure to contact me prior to the exam result in a zero recorded for that test grade. SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES/QUIZZES: During the course of the semester, you will read a variety of research articles posted on Blackboard by your instructor corresponding to topics being discussed in class. These articles will introduce you to important molecular biology concepts and will teach you how to think about science. While reading the articles, you should concentrate on each figure or table. Discussion will focused around five questions: what is the question being addressed?; what experimental approach was
used to solve the problem?; what are the results of the experiment?; what broad concepts and new principles emerge from the results?; how do the results benefit society? At the end of each discussion section you will be given a take-home quiz. The quizzes will cover the experiments described in the article and will count 20 points. They are due the following class period. Molecular Biology in Great Britain: During this course several field trips will be scheduled in order to culturally integrate your learning of molecular and cell biology through exploring locations where pivotal discoveries were made or noteworthy scientists lived and worked. These field trips do require extra fees for transportation and entry expenses and students should budget accordingly. Following each field trip, a reflection essay will be assigned. Labs: The laboratory grade will contribute 25% of the course grade. Like missed exams, missed laboratory exercises will result in a grade of zero. It is not normally possible to make up lab work. Laboratory activities are designed to illustrate the principles presented in the lecture and textbook and provide experience in the experimental approach to scientific questions. It is important for you to read the laboratory materials before class begins so that you and your partner may begin work immediately. Some of the laboratory exercises will require a written report of the observations and interpretations. You must hand in your own lab report. Although data and conclusions may be the same within a lab group, the body of the report and any figures, tables, and graphs must be individual work. All lab assignments must be turned in at the beginning of class. Late work will be assessed a penalty of one letter grade per day, unless otherwise arranged. All assignments will be turned in as hard copy, unless otherwise instructed. Email submissions are not accepted. When using computers, be sure to back up your data often and check the status of printing, file transfers, etc., before the last minute. Failure of technology does not constitute a valid excuse. Laboratory Notebook Students will be required to write up all laboratory exercises in a bound notebook (no detachable pages) Each day s laboratory data must be recorded directly in this book and each experiment must contain the following: Title, Date, Methods, Results, and Discussion or Summary. Title, Date, and Methods must completed prior to lab. The laboratory notebook is worth 80 points. Attendance Policy Harlaxton College operates a mandatory attendance policy that is binding on all faculty and students. The number of unexcused absences that are allowed before incurring a penalty is related to the number of times a class meets during a week. This means that for courses which meet three times a week students are allowed a maximum of three unexcused absences during the semester without attracting penalty points, for courses meeting twice a week two such absences are permitted and for courses meeting just once a week a single absence is allowed. Additional unexcused absences will attract a grade penalty. See Further Information about the Course for course specific attendance requirements.
Drop/Add and Withdrawal Policy There is normally about a 10 day period at the beginning of semester what a student may drop and class and/or add a class. The deadline date is published in the Semester Guidance handbook. Drop/Add forms are available from the library and completed forms should be returned to the same place. Faculty signatures are required for all classes being added Students may withdraw from a class, with the exception of British Studies, for a longer period of time. Again the deadline date is published in the Semester Guidance handbook. Forms are available from the College Secretary, to whom completed forms should be returned. Forms must be signed by the faculty member of the class being withdrawn from and the Principal. All students must register for, and be continuously enrolled in, 12 credit hours of study to be eligible to study at Harlaxton and remain in the United Kingdom. Disability Policy It is the policy of the University of Evansville (Harlaxton College) to make reasonable accommodations for students with properly documented disabilities. University of Evansville students should contact the Office of Counselling and Health Education to seek help with this. Students from Partner Universities/Colleges should contact their own relevant student support office. For assistance whilst at Harlaxton students should contact the College Secretary whose office is located adjacent to the Principal s office. Written notification to faculty from the College Secretary is required for academic accommodations to be implemented. Honour Code All students at the University of Evansville (Harlaxton College) agree to and are bound by the principles and practice of the honour code: I will neither give nor receive unauthorised aid, nor will I tolerate an environment that condones the use of unauthorised aid.