Prospective Course Schedule and Weekly Reading
Assignments
BIOL/PBIO 3333
Genetics, Fall 2015
Week of
Topic
Chapter Reading Assignment
Aug 24
Introduction to Course; The Gene; Historical
Perspectives on the Nature of Inheritance
Hartwell, 1-2
Thompson, 1,2
Aug 31
Principles of Transmission Genetics: Mendel's
Experiments
Hartwell, 2-3
Thompson, 4
Sept 7
Human Pedigree Analysis; Probability and Risk
Assessment; Meiosis; Chromosome Theory of
Inheritance; Basic chromosome structure
Hartwell, 3-4
Thompson, 4-5, 7
Sept 14
Sex linked Traits; Binomial Expansion and Chi Square
analysis; (Exam #1 9/18, Fri)
Hartwell, 3-5
Thompson, 6-7; (8-9)*
Sept 21
Dominance relationships, polygenic traits; epistasis
and environmental interactions; Linkage and
Mapping
Hartwell, 3-5
Thompson, 10-12
Sept 28
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
Oct 5
Mutation and Phenotype; Chromosome Structure
and Karyotype Analysis; Sex Chromosomes and
Dosage Compensation
Hartwell, 7; 13*; 4; 16*
Thompson, 16, 19-20
Oct 12
Aberrations in Chomosome Structure and Number;
Chromosome Aberrations and Cancer; Departures
from Diploidy in Plants; (Exam #2 10/16, Fri)
Hartwell, 13; 19*
Thompson, 16, 19-20
Oct 19
Introduction to Bacterial Genetics; Gene transfer and Hartwell, 15
Genetic Mapping in Bacteria;
Thompson, 13
Oct 26
Bacteriophage Genetics; Biochemical Nature of Gene; Hartwell, 6-7
DNA Molecular Structure
Thompson, 13, 3
Nov 2
DNA Replication and Recombination
Hartwell, 6
Thompson, 3, 17, 20
Hartwell, 9, 10*-12*; 20*
Thompson, 19-20
Nov 9
Applications of Bacterial Enzymes and Genomes;
Recombinant DNA Technology; DNA and RNA
genomes (Exam #3 11/13, Fri)
Nov 16
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 23
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 12/4, Fri)
Hartwell 15-16
Thompson, 17-18
Chromatin Structure; Regulation of Gene Expression
in Response to Development and Environment;
Population Genetics; Genetic variation and the
Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
Hartwell, 18; 19*
Thompson, 18, 21
Nov 30
Dec 7
FINAL EXAM: Tuesday, 15 December, 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM
* I chose the Hartwell 5e 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 and corresponding reading assignments from earlier editions. Please
note that the assignments here are for Hartwell 5e; annotations for earlier editions
are given in the course outline.