Don Nelson

Office
Phone
Email
Office Hours

S346
828-5425
dnelson@tru.ca
Tuesday              10 – 12 am
Thursday                1 -   3 pm
(or by appointment)

Calendar Description:
Isolation and identification of genes, analysis of gene structure, gene expression and its regulation in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, developmental genetics.

Course Description:
With the description of the DNA double helix in 1953 and elucidation of the Central Dogma in the early 1960’s, molecular genetics became an essential tool for studying biology.  This course focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying the storage, transmission and expression of heritable information and introduces you to some of the tools used to study these processes.  In addition to lecture material, we will use a seminar format to introduce you to reading and discussing the current literature.

Course/Learning Outcomes:
On completion of this course, students will be able to utilize their understanding of nucleic acid structure to explain the basis of recombinant DNA technology. Students will be familiar with the primary literature and be able to critically evaluate the use of techniques to address specific experimental problems. Students will be aware of the social issues raised by the application of molecular genetics in modern society.

Prerequisites:
Biology 234 - Introduction to Genetics

Corequisites:
Biology 313 - Introduction to Biochemistry

Required Texts/Materials:
         Molecular Biology of the Gene (Sixth Edition)
            JD Watson TA Baker, SP Bell, A Gann, M Levine &  R Losick
            (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press)

Recommended Texts/Materials:
Supplementary material will be provided in the form of pdf files.
(check the Dnelson folder on the TRU LAN Instructor’s Drive)
Additional sources of information include:

GENETICS – From Genes to Genomes (Third Edition)
LH Hartwell, L Hood, ML Goldberg, AE Reynolds,  LM Silver & RC Veres
(McGraw Hill)

The Molecular Biology of the Cell
B Alberts, D Bray, J Lewis, M Raff, K Roberts & JD Watson
Garland Publishing

Molecular Cell Biology
H Lodish, D Baltimore, A Berk, SL Zipursky, P Matsudaira & J Darnell
WH Freeman & Co.

Modern Genetic Analysis
AJF Griffiths, WM Gelbart, JH Miller & RC Lewontin
WH Freeman & Co.

Student Evaluation:

Tentative Syllabus

                                                                                                   Text

Lecture Part I:              Structure and Organization of the Genome      

                                                Nucleic Acid Structure                                                     Ch 6

                                                Hierarchical Organization of the Genome                        Ch 7

                                    The Central Dogma

                                                Replication and Recombination                                    Ch 8 & 10

                                                Transcription                                                                    Ch 12                       

                                                Regulation of Gene Expression

                                                            Prokaryotes                                                          Ch 16

                                                            Eukaryotes                                                           Ch 17

Midterm (~ 20 October)

Lecture Part II:                        Recombinant DNA Technology

Restriction Enzymes                                               

                                                Vector Systems                                                   Ch 21

Library Construction

                                                Hybridization Technology

                                                Polymerase Chain Reaction

                                                DNA Sequencing Technology

Seminar Part III:            Application of Molecular Genetics to the Study of Biology
                                   Topics will be chosen from the current literature…

Note:            this is a tentative list of the topics I would like to cover in the course. 

Suggestions for seminar topics are welcome.