Department of Genetics & Development


Principles of developmental biology
Course Number: Genetics G4027y	Instructor: A. Tomlinson	Points: 3.0 pts
* Required for first year Genetics and Development students. Open to students from all departments. The course is divided into two halves. In the first half studies in invertebrates (flies and nematodes) are used to describe the general principles that have emerged in developmental biology. The second half examines the operation of these principles in the development of various vertebrate organs and structures. Each class is in two parts. In the first part the teacher describes the subject matter, and in the second part student presentations are followed by general discussion.

Advanced eukaryotic molecular genetics
Course Number: Genetics 4050x	Instructor: A.Efstratiadis, T. Bestor	Points: 4.0 pts
Prerequisite: At least one graduate-level biochemistry or molecular biology course and the instructor's permission.
* Required for second year Genetics and Development students. Advanced treatment of the principles and methods of the molecular biology of eukaryotes, emphasizing the organization, expression, and evolution of eukaryotic genes. Topics include reassociation and hybridization kinetics, gene numbers, genomic organization at the DNA level, mechanisms of recombination, transposable elements, DNA rearrangements, gene amplification, oncogenes, recombinant DNA techniques, transcription and RNA splicing. Students participate in discussions of problems sets on the current literature.

Methods in genetics and development
Course Number: Genetics G4501x and G4502y	Instructor: Staff	Points: 4.0 pts
* Required for first year Genetics and Development students and open only to students in the department. A survey of laboratory methods used in research. Students rotate through the major laboratories of the Genetics and Development department and faculty of the other Basic Sciences Departments.

Genetic approaches to biological problems
Course Number: Genetics 6210x	Instructor: R. Rothstein	Points: 3.0 pts
* Required for first year Genetics and Development students. This course is designed to illustrate how genetic systems have played a fundamental role in our understanding of basic biological problems. The course will cover the following topics: mitosis and meiosis, chromosomal linkage and mapping, consequences of chromosomal rearrangements, mechanisms of recombination and gene conversion, the use of mutants to study gene structure, regulation and the cell cycle, uses of recombinant DNA in genetic analysis, and the genetic analysis of development in Drosophila.

Genetic approaches to biological problems
Course Number: Genetics G6211y	Instructor: F. Costantini	Points: 3.0 pts
* Required for first year Genetics and Development students. Continuation of Genetics G6210x. Basic principles and current areas of interest in mouse and human genetics. Topics include an introduction to mouse genetics; X-chromosome inactivation and genomic imprinting; genetic manipulation of the mouse; genetics of mouse coat color; genetics of sex determination; the mouse T-complex; human linkage analysis; somatic cell genetics; physical mapping of the human genome; cytogenetics; Huntington's disease; muscular dystrophy and Alzheimer's disease and gene therapy. One hour lecture once a week, followed by student presentations and discussion of papers from the literature. Reading will be assigned each week and will include background papers as well as the papers to be reviewed by students the following week.

Seminars in genetics and development
Course Number: Genetics G9321x and G9322y	Instructor: Staff	Points: 1.0 pts
* Required for all Genetics and Development students and open only to students in the department. Presentation of selected research topics.

Special research
Course Number: Genetics G9355x and G9355y	Instructor: Staff	Points: To be arranged
Permission of a member of the department.

Microbial molecular genetics
Course Number: Cell Biology G4150x	Instructor: F. Chang, and members of the staff	Points: 4.0 pts
Prerequisite: Basic biology and biochemistry; the instructor's permission.
* (Interdepartmental course offered through the Integrated Program in Cellular, Molecular, and Biophysical Studies.) Required for first year Genetics and Development students. Basic aspects of prokaryotic molecular biology and genetics. Regulation of gene expression, molecular genetics of bacterial viruses, plasmids and transposable elements. Modern molecular genetic approaches to complex biological phenomena. Format: 4-5 hours of lecture and discussion per week.

Biochemistry and molecular biology of eukaryotes
Course Number: G6300X	Instructor: Stephen Goff and Richard Mann	Points: 4.5 pts
Offered: Fall, each year.
Prerequisite: College Biochemistry, Biology and Chemistry
Required for all first year Ph.D. students. Together with G6301y, this course replaces Advanced Biochemistry (G6020x) and Eukaryotic Molecular Biology (G4152y) and provides a unified curriculum covering information essential to successfully carry out research in biological sciences. Topics include basic biochemical principles and processes common to all eukaryotic cells such as transcription, translation and the cell cycle, and mechanisms of cell-cell signaling. Topics covered in the fall term include: protein structure, nucleic acid structure, DNA-protein interactions, cooperative DNA binding, membrances, protein synthesis and degradation, DNA replication and repair, cell cycle, recombination in the immune system, genomics, and bioinformatics.

Biochemistry and molecular biology of eukaryotes II
Course Number: G6301Y	Instructor: Stephen Goff and Richard Mann	Points: 4.5 pts
Offered: Spring, each year.
Prerequisite: College Biochemistry, Biology and Chemistry
Required for all first year Ph.D. students. Together with G6301y, this course replaces Advanced Biochemistry (G6020x) and Eukaryotic Molecular Biology (G4152y) and provides a unified curriculum covering information essential to successfully carry out research in biological sciences. Topics covered in the spring term include: chromatin/telomeres, transcription, RNA processing, apoptosis, imprinting, X-inactivation, receptors, structure of signaling proteins, retroviruses/HIV, transcription factor signaling, cancer genetics and oncogenes.

Frontiers in cell biology
Course Number: Cell Biology G4450y	Instructor: G. Gunderson	Points: 1.0 pts
(Interdepartmental course offered through the Integrated Program in Cellular, Molecular, and Biophysical Studies). Required for all Genetics and Development students. Series of 5 to 6 seminars presented by invited speakers, well-known leaders in the field of cell and molecular biology. Discussion with the speakers after each seminar.

Ethics and policy of scientific research
Course Number: Cellular Molecular Biophysics G4010y	Instructor: R. Kessin and J. Rubin	Points: 1.0 pts
Required for all second-year students as well as other students and postdoctoral research fellows supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) T32 training grants. Topics covered include: (1) career paths in science; (2) normative issues in authorship of scientific publications; (3) data sharing and data secrecy; (4) ownership of scientific and technical information; (5) scientific misconduct; (6) the historical record of conflict and consensus between science and the goals of government; and (7) the relationship between federal scientific policy issues and academic scientists. Course sessions include lectures, discussion period, and analyses of case studies.

Cellular and molecular biology of cancer
Course Number: Pathology G4500y	Instructor: B. Tycko	Points: 3.0 pts
Prerequisite: instructor's approval
Required for students on the cancer training grant. An integrated and critical review of cancer biology, emphasizing recent research. Topics discussed include: natural history and epidemiology of cancer; morphology and behavior of cancer cells; DNA and RNA tumor viruses; oncogenes; tumor suppressor genes; signal transduction; the genetics of cancer; cancer and cellular differentiation; cancer causation: physical and chemical agents; multistage carcinogenesis; hormones, nutrients, and growth factors in cancer. Readings are largely original research papers and review articles. One 2-hour seminar per week.

Molecular biophysics
Course Number: Biochemistry G4250x	Instructor: B. Honig	Points: 4.5 pts
Prerequisite: Basic physical and organic chemistry or the instructor's permission
Elective for Genetics and Development students. Methods and principles involved in studying the structure and function of proteins, nucleic acids, membranes, and their macro-molecular assemblies. Noncovalent forces and conformational analysis; ultracentrifugation, viscometry, circular dichroism, fluorescence, magnetic resonance; conformational changes in proteins and nucleic acids, topological properties of macromolecules.

Cellular membranes and organelles
Course Number: Cell Biology G4350y	Instructor: C. Gabel and members of the staff	Points: 4.0 pts
Corequisite: Cell Biology 4450y (Frontiers in Cell Biology).
Prerequisite: Basic biology and biochemistry; the instructor's permission.
(Interdepartmental course offered through the Integrated Program in Cellular, Molecular, and Biophysical Studies.) Elective for Genetics and Development students. Introduction of eukaryotic cell biology; discussion of modern research approaches and current literature. Format: 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of student presentation per week.

Statistical aspects of human population genetics
Course Number: Public Health P8149 (Biostatistics)	Instructor: S. Hodge	Points: 3.0 pts
Prerequisite: Permission of the Instructor. Some basic mathematical and statistical skills are required. Previous work in genetics is desirable but not essential.
Studies of the genetics of complex disorders in humans have focused largely on families and on the present. However, with current interest in linkage disequilibrium, haplotypes, ethnic variation, etc., human geneticists and genetic epidemiologists need to be aware also of populations and of changes over time. In this course we will read a user-friendly book, Population Genetics: A Concise Guide, by J.H. Gillespie, supplemented by a number of classical papers, and will work on problems. Topics include: Hardy-Weinberg law. DNA variation. Mutation, selection, and drift. Effective population size and the coalescent. Natural selection and the fundamental model. Fixation probability. Nonrandom mating. Identity by descent. Introduction to qualitative genetics and linkage analysis. Evolutionary aspects of sex.

Probability
Course Number: Statistics-SIEO W4150x or W4105y	Instructor: Staff	Points: 3.0 pts
Prerequisite: a working knowledge of calculus
Required of students in statistical genetics. Fundamentals, random variables, and distribution functions in one or more dimensions; moments, conditional probabilities, and densities; Laplace transforms and characteristic functions. Infinite sequences of random variables; weak and strong laws of large numbers; central limit theorem.

Statistical inference
Course Number: Statistics W4107	Instructor: Staff	Points: 3.0 pts
Prerequisite: Statistics-IEOR3600 or W4105 or equivalent
Required of students in statistical genetics. Principles of statistical inference. Population parameters, sufficient statistics. Basic distribution theory. Point and interval estimation. Methods of maximum likelihood. Method of least squares regression. Introduction to the theory of hypothesis testing. Likelihood ratio tests. Nonparametric procedures. Statistical design theory. Applications to engineering, medicine, natural and social sciences.

* Courses required for first and second year Genetics and Development students. Not all courses are given every year. Courses marked 'x' are given in the fall semester; those marked 'y' are given in the spring.(updated 2/4/08)

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