BIO 325 Genetics Spring 2015 Tue, Th 2:00 PM 3:15 PM JGB 2.216 Instructor: Instructor: Dr. Sibum Sung (Associate Professor of Molecular Biosciences) NMS 5.110; 2-0867; sbsung@austin.utexas.edu OFFICE HOURS T/Th 11 AM Noon: Please email me to arrange an appointment, if possible. If you cannot make this time, you can email me to arrange alternative times. PLEASE DO: Come to my office hours to introduce yourself. Come to my office hours to ask me questions about the course material. PLEASE DON T: Do not come to my office hours to ask me to work the Homework problems with you. Please bring those questions to discussion section and TA s office hours. Answering those questions is the TA s essential job. Do not come to my office hours to argue with me about points on your exam. I won t. You can make appeals on grading to your TA. He will bring it to me if it is reasonable. Why do I get to teach Genetics? I got Bachelor and Master degrees in Biology from Seoul Nat l Univ. of South Korea and PhD in Biochemistry from Univ. of Wisconsin-at Madison in 2004. I also spent another three years as a Post doctoral fellow at Wisconsin where I learned a lot about Arabidopsis genetics and development. I joined the faculty here at UT in 2007. My other job at UT is to run my research Lab. I use Arabidopsis as a genetic model to understand the genetic/biochemical basis of development and the regulation of gene expression in eukaryotes (more than half of the course will cover topics related with these). When I learned about genetic analysis of eukaryotic development in college, I wanted to be a developmental geneticist and here I am. I love genetics and hope you will love it, too! Text Books: Genetics (From Genes to Genomes); 5 th edition by Hartwell et al. Leland Hartwell and colleagues have written a superb genetics textbook, now in its 5 th edition. It is lively, current, weaves in the new and exciting frontier of genomics and systems biology. ebook with ConnectPlus is recommended. There is a course-specific link to purchase this, but I decided not to integrate this into class. Nonetheless, LearnSmart module and other gadgets will be helpful for you if you want to practice more questions and etc. http://connect.mheducation.com/class/s-sung-bio-325 Additional materials: I will provide either URL link for the on-line material (I will use some on-line textbooks, which are free of charge; and some other web resources) or pdf files for any additional material that I will cover in the class. Synopsis: Learning genetics is usually very time-consuming! Genetics has earned a reputation as a stumbling block to some students at universities all over the world. There are several reasons for this. One of the most important reasons is that doing well in a Genetics class requires very different skills than doing well in other biology-related classes. Analytical
thinking is the most important skill necessary for understanding genetics. Memorization skills will help you, but you will have to really understand the material to do well in Genetics class. Best way to improve your analytical skill is to practice as many problems as possible. That s why I encourage you to work on problems (before class/ in-class quizzes, homework, Learnsmart and etc.) Lectures and readings: Lecture handouts will be posted on Canvas by 6pm the evening prior to the corresponding lecture. Lecture handouts are drafts until given, and perhaps a little afterwards (they can be revised at any time). Each week (lectures), you will be given corresponding chapters in the textbook (see schedule). Read them at least after the class. It will be extremely helpful to understand the material. I will try to stay with the textbook. But from time to time, I will use material from other sources. Additional readings from the literature or available on the internet may be assigned and will be made available through Canvas. Correspondence: All announcements/scores/answers/ will be made available through Canvas. So check the site often. I will also use group email through Canvas. So please make sure that your official University email address is an address at which you actually read mail. Attendance: There will be in-class i>clicker quizzes, which will be used for your grade (see below for grading policy). i>clicker quizzes will be given anytime during the class. Participation will be counted toward your grade (not for correct answer). Discussion Sections: Attendance at discussion section is required to help you keep up with material that we cover during class and in your reading. A total of 25 points can be earned during discussion section. 48070 Friday 8:00 am 9:00 am; WAG 308 48075 Thursday 11:00 am 12:00 noon; CLA 1.108 48080 Thursday 12:30 pm 1:30 pm; CLA 0.122 48081 Wednesday 10:00 am 11:00 am; JES A216A 48083 Wednesday 11:00 am 12:00 noon; JES A216A 48085 Wednesday 3:00 pm 4:00 pm; GDC 5.304 Discussion section will begin on Jan. 27 TA will also hold additional office hour, Mon 10:00 am 11:30 am Fri 12:00 noon 2:00 pm Weekly on your own quizzes I will periodically post quizzes on Canvas for you to work on. Questions are designed to review material from the previous week or to review basic knowledge for upcoming lectures. If you get the half of questions correct, you will get the full points. It is a good idea to review what you know and what you do not know. And make sure that you understand the concept related with questions. Pop-up Quiz: In-class quizzes (paper quizzes) will be given anytime during the class. They are short 5 min. simple problem sets, mainly cover terminology questions. Scores you earned from
quizzes are extra points that will be used to calculate your final grade! Homework: Homework will be assigned one week before the due date. The idea of assigning homework is to help you learn the material. There will be five homework assignments. Late homework will not be accepted. Homework should be turned in by 5:00 pm on due date. You are encouraged to work together for homework, but you should come up with your own answer. Formal Exams: There will be three midterm exams and a final exam. Each of the midterm exams will primarily test the material covered since the previous exam. The final exam will include all topics. The lowest of the midterm exam scores will be dropped. The final exam score cannot be dropped. There will be no makeup exams. If an exam is missed, it is the one that will be dropped. It is your responsibility to arrive at exams on time. Students who arrive late will not be given additional time, and anyone arriving after other students have finished and left the classroom will have to drop that exam. If you cannot take the final, you should not take this course. Final exam schedule: Monday, May 16, 9:00-12:00 noon Previous exams will also be posted on Canvas which will be helpful to be familiar with questions. Note that course schedule has been changed from previous years, thus coverage of old tests are different from current ones. Grading: Grading Summary Category Points Notes Midterm exams 200 + α Three exams, 100 + α points each, lowest score dropped. See course schedule for dates Final exam 100 + α Class participation 50 i>clicker (50 points) Discussion section 25 On your own quizzes 25 Only participation counts Homework 100 5 homework with 20 points each In class quizzes α Extra points Total 500 + α Following grade scales are guaranteed : Therefore, it is possible that all of you get A if you do well. A 435-500 + α points (87-100%) C+ 355-374 points (71-74%) A- 425-434 points (85-86%) C 335-354 points (67-70%) B+ 405-424 points (81-84%) C- 325-334 points (65-66%) B 385-404 points (77-80%) D 275-324 points (55-64%) B- 375-384 points (75-76%) F 274 points ( <55%) Cut-offs can be lower (but will not be higher) depending on overall performance of the class. University Policies
It is your responsibility to keep track of the deadlines for dropping the course, changing to Pass/Fail, and etc. Please do not ask me to sign letters permitting you to break the rules of the University. If you need special treatment for religious or other reasons, it is your responsibility to inform me of these matters in a timely manner and strictly according to University guidelines. A notice that students with disabilities may request appropriate academic accommodations from the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for Students with Disabilities, 471-6259, http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd/ A notice regarding accommodations for religious holidays. (By UT Austin policy, you must notify me of your pending absence at least fourteen days prior to the date of observance of a religious holyday. If you must miss a class, an examination, a work assignment, or a project in order to observe a religious holy day, you will be given an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time after the absence.") In class: No talk. No IM. No Texting. Turn off (or silent) your cell phone. We are all adults. Be considerate to your classmates and instructor. Please use your common sense. Academic misconduct (cheating): DON T DO IT! Don t ruin your career over a couple of scores. Incidents will be reported to the Dean of Students and will be strictly dealt with according to the University policy. No exception. A notice regarding academic dishonesty. UT Honor Code (or statement of ethics) and an explanation or example of what constitutes plagiarism (Link to University Honor Code: http://registrar.utexas.edu/catalogs/gi09-10/ch01/index.html)
Schedule (Note: course schedule is subject to change based on your (and also my) performance) BIO 325 Spring 2016 by Sung Lecture Title Reading Section I. Principles of genetics 1. Jan 19 Course Overview/Introduction to Genetics Ch 1 2. Jan 21 Principles of heredity Mendelian Genetics Ch 2 3. Jan 26 Principles of heredity Extensions to Mendel s Law Ch 3 4. Jan 28 Probability in Genetics Ch 2/3 5. Feb 2 Chromosome Theory Ch 4 6. Feb 4 Linkage and mapping I Ch 5 7. Feb 9 Linkage and mapping II Ch 5 8. Feb 11 Exam I (in-class) Section II. Basic molecular genetics 9. Feb 16 Linkage and mapping III Ch 5 10. Feb 18 Overview on DNA as a genetic material Ch 6 11. Feb 23 Dissection through mutation I Ch 7 12. Feb 25 Dissection through mutation II Ch 7 13. Mar 1 Dissection through mutation III Ch 7 13. Mar 3 Gene expression I Ch 8 14. Mar 8 Gene expression II Ch 8 15. Mar. 10 Exam II (in-class) March 14 ~ March 18 Spring Break Section III. Molecular analysis 16. Mar 22 Analysis of genome I Ch 9/10 17. Mar 24 Analysis of genome II Ch 9/10 18. Mar 29 Analysis of genome III Ch 9/10 19. Mar 31 Analysis of genome IV Ch 11 20. Apr 5 Analysis of genome V/Population Genetics I Ch 11/19 21. Apr 7 Population Genetics II/ Eukaryotic Chromosome variations I Ch 19/12/13 22. Apr 12 Eukaryotic Chromosome variations II Ch 12/13 23. Apr 14 Exam III (in-class) Section IV. Regulation of gene expression 24. Apr 19 Organelle inheritance/review Ch 14
25. Apr 21 Gene regulation in prokaryotes I Ch 13 26. Apr 26 Gene regulation in prokaryotes II Ch 15 27. Apr 28 Gene regulation in eukaryotes I Ch 16 28. May 3 Gene regulation in eukaryotes II Ch 16/18 29. May 5 Manipulating Eukaryotic Genome Ch 17 Final exam schedule: Monday, May 16, 9:00-12:00 noon (Location: TBA)