Introduction

Genetics is a field of study that is critical to our understanding of biology because it helps us understand how information is transmitted from generation to generation. Recently, genetic engineering has become important in many fields of biology, including medicine, agriculture, and conservation biology. Genetic engineering also raises important social and ethical debates that are discussed daily in the media. An understanding of genetics and of current molecular technology in genetics is, therefore, critical for biologists like yourselves (who plan to pursue careers in medicine, to pursue teaching careers, to pursue graduate degrees, or to become professionals, etc.).

The study of genetics includes classical genetics, molecular genetics and population genetics. In this course, we will investigate genetics from each of these inter-related perspectives. We will explore mitosis and meiosis, the principles of classical genetics, including sex linkage and sex determination, chromosome mapping and chromosomal abnormalities. We will examine DNA structure and replication, as well as the processes of transcription and translation. We will study the control of gene expression, DNA mutations, and we will investigate recent developments in genetic technology. Finally, we will study the relationship between genetics and population biology.

To learn most effectively in this course, you should be prepared for and participate in lectures and in labs. To prepare for lecture and/or laboratory, you should read assigned readings (chapters in Tamarin's text or handouts), work homework problems, and/or prepare pre-lab assignments. You must arrive on time for lecture and lab--late arrivals are disruptive for everyone, and they will not be tolerated. Finally, laboratory attendance is mandatory.

Exams

There are 4 exams in this course. Exams 1-3 will be given during laboratory periods. Exam 4 will be given during the scheduled exam period (TBA), and it will be a comprehensive examination. In each exam, you will be tested on material from lecture, in-class discussions, and reading/homework assignments. The exams will mostly be composed of genetics problems and short answer questions. If you cannot take an exam at the scheduled time (due to an excusable absence such as sickness or family emergency), contact me before the examination. At that point, we will re-schedule the examination. If you would like me to re-evaluate an exam question, please attach a short note to your test, detailing the reasons for your request, and return your test to me within 1 week after receiving your exam.

Assignments

During the semester, I will be assigning homework problems that relate to lecture material. Because genetics is an analytical biological course, a good way to learn about and understand the concepts of genetics is to work and solve genetics problems. Moreover, the exams in this course are problem-based; therefore, by doing these assignments, you should be developing problem-solving skills that you will need to use on the exams.

Laboratory

I am the instructor for laboratory experience. Labs are scheduled for Tuesday mornings each week of the semester. Experiences you have in laboratory should reinforce what you've learned in lecture. Laboratory experience is also important because you should learn new techniques that cannot be learned from lecture. And, most importantly, laboratory experience should augment your understanding of the process of doing scientific investigations.

Laboratory is important because so much of biology (whether you're interested in genetics, medicine, microbiology, ecology, animal behavior, etc.) involves hands-on research. I want you to experience the excitement of performing research in the laboratory. For these reasons, I make laboratory attendance mandatory. If you must miss a lab for an excusable reason (personal sickness or family emergency), contact me before lab, and we will arrange an alternate research assignment for you to do. If you miss lab for an inexcusable reason (over-sleeping, going out of town for vacation, etc.), you will not be allowed to make up the work, and you final class grade will be lowered.

Most laboratory experiences will be investigative in nature and require an informal written report. I will explain the format for these reports during the first laboratory period. You will be asked to write a formal report (including library research and statistical analysis) for a project involving fruit fly genetics. The fruit fly research paper will be due on Friday, March 31.