Global Arc

At 10 nanometer scale, protein machines 'walk' on microtubule tracks. At a scale 10,000 times larger, sheets of cells self-organize to form ornate shapes that can even heal themselves after injury. This course will examine these and other complex biological systems at the molecular, cellular, and tissue scales. In parallel, we will cover the current and emerging methods that enable us to quantitatively probe and analyze biological systems. Specific topics will include structural biology from crystallography to cryo-electron microscopy, enzyme kinetics and networks, next-gen sequencing and data mining, modern microscopy and image analysis.

We will explore the molecular events leading to the onset and progression of human cancer. We will review the central genetic and biochemical elements that make up the cell cycle, followed by a survey of the signal transduction pathways and checkpoints that regulate it. We will discuss oncogenes, tumor suppressor and mutator genes that act in these pathways and review the role of viral oncogenes and their action on cells. We will investigate the role of cancer stem cells and the interaction between tumor and the host environment. We will explore specific clinical case studies in light of the molecular events underlying different cancers.

This course will examine fundamental determinants of human microbe interaction at the biological and ecological levels. The focus will be on major global infectious diseases, their burden of illness and policy challenges for adequate prevention and control. Each infectious agent will be discussed in terms of its biology, mechanisms of pathogenesis, and epidemiology, as well as strategies for its control. Specific emphasis will be placed on the public health aspects of each disease. Prerequisite: MOL 101, MOL 214, or permission of instructor. One three-hour lecture.

How do organisms ensure that genes are expressed at the right time and place as they develop from a single egg cell into a multicellular animal? In this seminar style course, we will explore some of the diverse mechanisms that control gene expression, including those involved in transcriptional regulation, epigenetic silencing, translational regulation and cell-cell signaling. By reading and critically evaluating the primary literature, we will explore many of the crucial molecular biology, cell biology and genetics techniques that have helped illuminate the gene regulatory mechanisms that are essential for animal development.

This course will consider the principles, development, outcomes and future directions of therapeutic applications of biotechnology, with particular emphasis on the interplay between basic research and clinical experience. Topics to be discussed include production of hormones and other therapeutic proteins, gene therapy, oncolytic viruses, and stem cells. Reading will be from the primary literature. Prerequisite: MOL 214.

This course will cover statistical models, methods, and concepts with a particular focus on applications in molecular biology and genomics. Real data sets will be analyzed in order to gain an understanding of how statistics is used in practice. Topics to be covered include probability, experimental design, point estimation, hypothesis testing, Bayesian statistics, and the extension of these topics to high-dimensional data sets. Areas of application will be chosen among quantitative genetics, sequence analysis, population genetics, association studies, gene expression analysis, and other modern experimental approaches.

Many organisms are agents of disease in humans, but few can cause a pandemic. This course will survey where pandemic pathogens come from, how they replicate and cause disease, and what technologies have been invented to combat them or predict where they may emerge next.

How did the human brain become the most complex organ in the animal kingdom? How do genetic and environmental forces interact to produce its capabilities and its maladies? These questions have fascinated philosophers, humanists, physicians, and scientists for millennia. We will address the above questions using human genetics, genomics, and systems neuroscience. Topics to be considered include evolution of the human brain, development of language and reading, and individuality. We will link these topics with related disorders as autism spectrum disorder, Alzheimer

The molecular biology and biochemistry of pharmaceuticals and natural products that target CNS function will be examined. Specific topics include: the blood-brain barrier, addiction and tolerance, analgesia, treatments for mood disorders, cognitive enhancement, stimulants and ADHD, treatment of dementias such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease, psychotropic drugs, antipsychotics and the treatment of schizophrenia.

Viruses are unique parasites of living cells and may be the most abundant, highest evolved life forms on the planet. The general strategies encoded by all known viral genomes are discussed using selected viruses as examples. A part of the course is dedicated to the molecular biology (the tactics) inherent in these strategies. Another part introduces the biology of engagement of viruses with host defenses, what happens when viral infection leads to disease, vaccines and antiviral drugs, and the evolution of infectious agents and emergence of new viruses. Prerequisite: MOL 214 or permission of instructor.