GENETICS
AN S 213
Paula Gentry, PhD
Chad Steining
Contact Information
Dr. Gentry
 225
Shantz (West end, main floor, in small
hallway)
 Office
626-3642
 Lab 626-3572
 Email pgentry@u.arizona.edu
Contact Information
Chad Steining
 113
Forbes (Southwest corner of basement
level)
 Lab
626-3572
 Cell 403-7095
 Email chads@ag.arizona.edu
Concepts in Genetics
7th Edition
William S. Klug and Michael R. Cummings
Will be available in the bookstore by the middle of
September
Welcome Back Picnic
Wednesday, September 1, 4:30 PM
Campus Ag Center (NW Corner of Campbell
Ave and Roger Rd)
Ag Ed Picnic Area (west of the equine center)
Find out about: dunking faculty, student clubs
and organizations, scholarship recipients
Free food and T-shirts, games and door prizes (gift
certificates and football tickets)
Please contact MaryAnn Harris
maharris@ag.arizona.edu
Rides are available
Job Announcement
Student position with USDA (includes vacation and
sick leave)
Work with researchers studying aflatoxin and other
agriculturally relevant fungi
Contact Peg Kattnig: kattnig@ag.arizona.edu
COURSE OVERVIEW
 Four
regular exams, 125 points each
 Drop one exam….. No make-up exams
 One comprehensive final exam, 125 points
500 POINTS TOTAL
A  90% (450 pts)
C = 70-79% (350-399)
E  59% ( 299)
B = 80-89% (400-449)
D = 60-69% (300-349)
EXPECTATIONS
You deserve preparation, clarity and content from me.
 I expect you to prepare and attend. I also expect you to
behave yourselves. You know what this means.
 Please, please, please, PUHLEEZE, avoid the following
question:

“Do I need to know this…?”
If I talk about it in class, you need to
know it.
WHY GENETICS?
Or,
Why do they make us take this class?
Why Genetics?
Perspective!
Why Genetics?
cotton, wool?
 Food… chicken, beef, pork, milk, rice, wheat,
corn, yeast?
 Health… drug discovery and production
(antibiotics, immunosuppressive agents,
recombinant compounds), organ culture, diseases
 Industry… citric acid, amylase, pharming
 Biotechnology…altered plant and animal genomes
 Clothing…
Why Genetics?
GENETICS: The study of genes, heredity and
variation….
…at the level of the cell, the individual, an individual’s offspring and
the population in which individuals live.
GENE: A section of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the
hereditary material that a) passes from one generation to
the next and b) encodes information used by cells to form
and do the work of cells.
Why Genetics?
DNA is the key molecule that links
all the disciplines of biology.
Why Genetics?
 What
are the different disciplines within Genetics?
 1. Classical or Mendelian Genetics
 2. Cytological Genetics
 3. Molecular Genetics
 4. Population Genetics
Why Genetics?
Classical or Mendelian Genetics
 How
traits encoded in DNA are passed from one
generation to the next
Why Genetics?
Cytological Studies
 How
DNA is used within a cell to direct the
formation and function of a particular cell type,
within an organ or functional unit.
 Studies use light and electron microscopy to
examine cell structure and function.
Why Genetics?
Molecular Genetics
 Chemical
structure of DNA, and by extension of
genes, and how they operate at the molecular level.
Why Genetics?
Population Genetics
 Study
of variation of gene expression within
and between populations
How are the different disciplines
in Genetics useful?
Plant Agriculture
 Increase
yield
 Increase nutritional value
 Beta
carotene (pre-vitamin A) in “golden” rice
 Increase
disease and pest resistence
 StarLink
Corn—engineered to contain an insecticidal
protein derived from a bacteria
 Animal feed only, but sneaked into two taco shells in fall
2000 and set off a storm of controversy regarding
genetically engineered crops.
Animal Agriculture
 Increase
meat, milk, egg and wool yield
 Increase feed efficiency
 Artificial Insemination
 Increase
genetic progress by inseminating many
females with sperm from a single sire.
Parentage Analysis
 In
a mixed sire system, identification of sire and
dam by marker analysis
 Can be coupled with identification of superior
individuals and marker-assisted selection programs
 Combine to increase yield and production
Pharming
 Pharmaceutical
production from transgenic
animals
 Insert
a gene encoding a useful protein into the genome
of an organism
 The useful protein is produced in large quantities by the
organism (e.g. in milk or eggs) and can be purified
 Erythropoietin, tissue plasminogen activator, insulin,
interferon
Medicine
 Xenotransplantation
 Development
of cells, tissues and organs from nonhumans for transplantation into humans.
 Pig organs for transplant—development of a strain of
pigs whose cells do not express immunogenic markers
on their surface
 Carries the risk of disease introduction– AIDS, Ebola
and Mad Cow Disease (BSE) are all thought to have
spread to humans from animals
Gene Therapy
 When
human disease has been shown to result
from a mutation in a single gene (e.g. cystic
fibrosis), replacement of the defective/nonworking gene with a working copy restores
function
Immunogenetics
 Identification
of immune markers that are common
between groups of individuals makes possible
compatible blood transfusions and organ transplant
surgery
Disease Diagnosis
 DNA chips
(microarrays)
 Thousands
of short DNA sequences attached to a glass
slide
 Represent different gene sequences from normal and
diseased tissues
 Can be used to diagnose cancer and some metabolic
diseases by identifying expression of genes associated
with disease state
Forensic Analysis
 Crime
scene analysis
 DNA analysis to establish guilt or innocence