Biochemistry & Molecular Bio. 390G - Molecular Genetics & Genomics

Moving from single genes to whole genomes, this course will focus on the molecular basis of biological inheritance. Major topics are Mendelian genetics, epigenetics, genomics, and bioinformatics. The course will begin with a review of fundamental concepts in Mendelian inheritance, including chromosome segregation, independent assortment, dominant and recessive alleles, and genetic variation. Epigenetics ? including hetero- and euchromatin and DNA methylation ? will be discussed in relation to chromosome behavior and gene expression. The coverage of genomics will encompass multi-genic traits and quantitative phenotypic variation, transcriptome analysis, and comparison of genomes. Students will also receive an introduction to bioinformatic tools used to study genes and their connections to phenotypes, such as sequence alignments, BLAST homology searches, protein domain predictions, and phylogenetic tree construction. Throughout the course, students will have the opportunity to link Mendelian and more complex mechanisms of inheritance to the expression and function of the underlying DNA, RNA, and protein, in the larger context of cellular events and biochemical pathways.

BIOCHEM 275 w/ B- Not an advanced elective for Biochem majors. Students who have taken Biology 283, Microbiology 330 or AnSci 311 should not take this course.