Provisional Syllabus for Cell 6030, Molecular Biology Spring 2014
Professor
David A. Mullin
Office
4016 Stern Hall
Office hours
By appointment.
Class meets: Tue and Thur: 11:00 am- 12:15 pm in Boggs 243 and Tue.: 5pm to 6:15pm in Boggs 104
Text book: “Molecular Biology”, by Robert F. Weaver. Students are expected
to study the assigned reading material and PowerPoint presentations prior to attending the lectures.
Blackboard (BB) website: PowerPoint presentations and homework assignments will be posted on this site. You should check the
syllabus posted on the BB site on a regular basis because page assignments and other readings associated with lectures may change.
Exam dates shown below are approximate:
Lect#
1
2
3
4-7
8, 9
Topic
What is Molecular Biology?
Monomers: amino acids and nucleotides
Molecular forces
Structure, function and analysis of proteins
Structure and analysis of nucleic acids
MB
1
3
2
First Exam (Tue. Feb. 18)
10, 11
12, 13
14
15, 16
17, 18
19
20, 21
Gene cloning, gene libraries, genomics
Molecular biology methods
RNA structure, function and analysis
Bacterial RNA polymerase
Bacterial Operons and regulons
DNA-protein interactions in bacteria
Bacterial chromosomes and DNA replication
22, 23
24
Second Exam (Tue. March 18)
Eukaryotic RNA polymerases and promoters
General transcription factors of eukaryotes
25
26, 27
28, 29
Eukaryotic transcription activators and repressors
Capping and polyadenylation of RNA
RNA splicing, RNA editing
30
Eukaryotic chromosomes
4, 24
5
6
7, 8 (217 - 230)
9
20, 21
10
11 (299 - 323)
(336 - 337)
12 (341 - 354)
15
14 (413 - 438
(443 - 451)
16 (508 - 511)
13
Final Exam: check final exam schedule
Grading: This semester there will be 2 midterm exams, a final exam, and a term paper. Each will count as 25 % of the final grade.
The term paper is due one week before the last day of class. This is a hard deadline. Choose a topic that deals with a specific
question in molecular biology but discuss the topic of the paper with me before you start writing. Homework will be used to decide
borderline grades. Two or more unexcused absences in the lecture will cause your final letter grade to drop by one full letter. If you
miss an exam you will be allowed to take a makeup exam only if you contact me prior to the time of the exam and get my approval.
Unexcused missed exams will probably be recorded as a 0 % score. As a reminder: The Honor Code stipulates that "all academic
work must be the result of the student's own efforts." I will ruthlessly pursue those who break the honor code in my class.
Goals of this molecular biology course: As it relates to molecular biology, and beyond the basic definitions of elements and topics,
students should learn to identify interesting phenomenology, ask scientific questions, design controlled experiments, analyze and
interpret data, construct explanations. Students should learn to understand causes and effects, and stability and change as it relates to
molecular biology.