Prospective Course Schedule and Weekly Reading
Assignments
BIOL/PBIO 3333
Genetics, Fall 2013
Week of
Topic
Chapter Reading
Assignment
Aug 19
Introduction to Course; The Gene; Historical
Perspectives on the Nature of Inheritance
Hartwell, 1-2
Thompson, 1,2
Aug 26
Principles of Transmission Genetics: Mendel's
Experiments
Hartwell, 2-3
Thompson, 4
Sept 2
Human Pedigree Analysis; Probability and Risk
Assessment; Meiosis; Chromosome Theory of
Inheritance; Basic chromosome structure
Hartwell, 3-4
Thompson, 4-5, 7
Sept 9
Sex linked Traits; Binomial Expansion and Chi
Square analysis; (Exam #1 9/13, Fri)
Hartwell, 3-5
Thompson, 6-7; (8-9)*
Sept 16
Dominance relationships, polygenic traits; epistasis
and environmental interactions; Linkage and
Mapping
Hartwell, 3-5
Thompson, 10-12
Sept 23
Three-point Test Cross; Tetrad Analysis; Mitotic
Recombination; Gene Mapping Techniques in
Humans; Recombination at the Molecular Level
Hartwell, 5-6*; 10*; 11*
Thompson, 10-12, 14, 15
Sept 30
Mutation and Phenotype; Chromosome Structure and
Karyotype Analysis; Sex Chromosomes and Dosage
Compensation
Hartwell, 7; 13*; 4; 16*
Thompson, 16, 19-20
Oct 9
Aberrations in Chomosome Structure and Number;
Chromosome Aberrations and Cancer; Departures
from Diploidy in Plants;
Hartwell, 13; 19*
Thompson, 16, 19-20
Oct 14
Introduction to Bacterial Genetics; Gene transfer and Hartwell, 15
Genetic Mapping in Bacteria; (Exam #2 10/16, Wed) Thompson, 13
Oct 21
Bacteriophage Genetics; Biochemical Nature of Gene; Hartwell, 6-7
DNA Molecular Structure
Thompson, 13, 3
Oct 28
DNA Replication and Recombination
Nov 4
Applications of Bacterial Enzymes and Genomes;
Recombinant DNA Technology; DNA and RNA
genomes (Exam #3 11/8, Fri)
Hartwell, 6
Thompson, 3, 17, 20
Hartwell, 9, 10*-12*; 20*
Thompson, 19-20
Nov 11
Synthesis of Classical and Molecular Techniques in
the Analysis of Gene Function; Biochemistry of
Protein Structure; The Cistron
Hartwell, 6-7
Thompson, 17, 20
Nov 18
Cracking the Code; Evolution of the Genetic Code;
Extranuclear Genomes; Eukaryotic Genome
Organization.
Hartwell, 8; 16*
Thompson, 17-18
Transcription and Translation in Prokaryotes and
Eukaryotes; (Exam #4 11/25, Mon)
Hartwell 15-16
Thompson, 17-18
Nov 25
Dec 4
Chromatin Structure; Regulation of Gene Expression
Hartwell, 18; 19*
in Response to Development and Environment;
Population Genetics; Genetic variation and the Hardy- Thompson, 18, 21
Weinberg Equilibrium
FINAL EXAM: Wednesday, 11 December, 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM
* I chose the Hartwell textbook for this course because it is comprehensive, and will
serve as a suitable reference text for other courses commonly taken in the Biology major
curriculum. It is integrative, and emphasizes how both classical and molecular genetic
approaches can be applied for therapeutic and economic benefit. It also discusses some of
the potential societal dangers of the misapplication of genetic technology. It does not,
however, follow a historical narrative. In contrast, my lectures for this course will
discuss advances in genetics in a rough chronological order- my goal here is to provide
an appreciation of how conceptual and technological breakthroughs progressively
advance our understanding of the world around us. Our understanding of inheritance
and the mechanisms of biological information storage and retrieval is a remarkable
human achievement, and I think it makes for an interesting story.
Our focus will be primarily on material covered in Chapters 1-18. The reading
assignments given here will cover the topics discussed in class. Ideally, these reading
assignments should be completed before the classroom discussion, i.e., I would like you
to "read ahead" of material presented in lecture. As you might imagine in a 900 page
textbook, covering in detail the entire text would optimally require a two semester course.
The asterisks represent chapters where we will not discuss all the material included in the
text. Please NOTE: The pace, but not the subject order, may vary from this tentative
schedule; see the detailed course outline on the genetics web page, which gives
specific page assignments for topics discussed in asterisked chapters in the Hartwell
text. Prior to every exam, the specific material to be covered on that examination
will be announced in class and posted on D2L.