How can a single cell, the fertilized egg, give rise to all the specialized cells of an adult? What gives rise to biological form? What is the molecular logic of the pathways that progressively refine cellular identities? How do cells "talk" to one another so as to coordinate their behaviors as embryos develop form and function? How can parts of an organism be regenerated with only the appropriate regions remade, structured identically to the missing ones? How does a stem cell differ from a non-stem cell? How can genetically identical organisms be cloned?

(Offered as BIOL 214 and NEUR 214) An introduction to the structure and function of the nervous system, this course explores the basic functions of neurons and synapses as well as neural mechanisms of sensation at molecular, cellular, circuit and system levels. Basic topics in neurobiology and neurophysiology will be covered with emphasis on neuroscience history and understanding how neuroscientists approach the study of the nervous system. Three class hours per week.

Requisite: BIOL 191. Limited to 45 students. Fall semester. Professor Roche.

Advances in organismal biology hinge upon an understanding of natural history and are enhanced by quantitative observation, hypothesis formation, and experimentation with systems that occur in nature. In this course, we will apply these principles specifically to the study of infectious diseases in natural populations. With a combination of lecture, discussion, and field-based activities, the course will focus on deriving important questions and the variety of approaches to address them.