HUMAN GENETICS
IN THE
C OLLEGE C ORE C URRICULUM
CORE UA303, Tuesday and Thursday, 11:00 am – 12:15 pm, Silver 207
INSTRUCTOR
Dr. Matthew Rockman
Department of Biology and Center for Genomics & Systems Biology
Phone: 212 998 8490
Email: mrockman@nyu.edu
Office: 12 Waverly Place, room 303
TEXTS
Required:
Human Genetics Laboratory Manual (NYU – Fall 2015).
Strongly recommended:
Benjamin A. Pierce, 2013. Genetics Essentials: Concepts and Connections. 2nd Edition. Freeman & Co., New York.
Both books are available at the NYU bookstore. Used copies of Pierce are available from online bookstores,
and any edition will work. Pierce is also available on reserve in Bobst Library.
Additional readings, announced in lecture, will be posted on NYU Classes.
EVALUATION
The final grades for the course will be based on achievement on exams, homework, laboratory work, and
group presentations, each component weighted according to the following scheme:
Midterm Exam 1
15% Thursday, October 15
11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
Midterm Exam 2
15% Thursday, November 12
11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
Final Exam
20% Tuesday, December 22
10:00 AM – 11:50 AM
Laboratory
25%
Problem Sets
15%
Group Presentation
10%
Students accumulating at least 90% of the evaluation points will receive a letter grade no lower than an A-,
those receiving at least 80% no lower than a B-, and so forth. If the median score for the course is lower
than 85%, a linear adjustment (“curve”) will be implemented to move the median up to the B+ range.
Finally, an opportunity for extra credit will be offered after the second exam, allowing students to add 3
percentage points to their total score accumulation; these points will be added after the curve is set to insure
that the extra-credit assignment is optional.
COURSEWORK AND POLICIES
EXAMS The exams will contain questions covering the lectures, readings, and laboratory projects. The final
exam will be cumulative, but will be more heavily focused on material covered after the second midterm.
The problem sets provide practice with some types of questions that will appear on the exams. If you miss
one midterm exam because of illness, you must contact Professor Rockman by e-mail before the start of the
exam and subsequently provide a doctor's note explaining your absence. If those conditions are met, the
final exam will count as 35% of your course total. If you miss two midterm exams you will be required to
withdraw from the course. A make-up will be given for the final exam only under exceptional circumstances
that must be discussed with Professor Rockman prior to the exam. In this case a grade of incomplete will be
given for the course and the make-up will be scheduled for the spring 2016 semester.
PROBLEM SETS Short problem sets will be assigned weekly. The problem sets will be posted on NYU
Classes and due at the start of each laboratory session. As answer keys will be posted after the laboratory
sessions, late work will not be accepted for credit. Each of the 10 assignments will count as 1/10 of your
problem set grade. Problem sets are to be completed independently by each student.
GROUP PRESENTATIONS During the laboratory sessions on December 7 and 8, each student will present,
as part of a four-person team, a brief oral report on a recent popular media account of a topic in human
genetics. Student teams correspond to groups of four people sharing a lab bench during the course of the
semester. The report, which can make use of any appropriate audio/visual aids, will include a summary,
analysis, and critique of the popular media account. The student teams will choose topics and identify
relevant media accounts by the lab session on November 2/3. Further presentation guidelines are attached.
LECTURES Attendance is recommended, as exams are based largely on the content of the lectures.
However, we do not take attendance, and students unable to set aside their phones for the duration of the
lecture should not attend. Phone use – for any purpose – is prohibited in class. Students using laptops must
sit in the back row of the classroom. Tablet computers can be used flat, without stands. Because many of
the concepts covered in this class are best represented visually, by drawing, students will be best served by
leaving their computers at home at taking notes by hand. Lecture slides will be available on Classes
following each lecture.
LABORATORY
The laboratory sessions will be held in Silver 201 beginning September 14/15. You must be registered in a
laboratory section in order to receive credit for the course. The sections have a limited capacity;
consequently, you must attend the section for which you are registered. It is not possible to attend different
sections on different weeks and it is not possible to perform make-up experiments.
LABORATORY POLICIES
The evaluation method for the laboratory involves a system of 50 points each week, allocated as follows:
Attendance
10 points
Quiz
10 points
Lab Assignment
30 points
You are expected to arrive punctually for the beginning of the lab session. Arriving more than 10 minutes
late will result in a loss of attendance credit for the session.
Questions for the laboratory quizzes will be based on the description of the experiment in the laboratory
manual. Arriving more than 10 minutes late for the lab will exclude you from taking the quiz.
The laboratory assignment must be completed and submitted during the laboratory period by working
collaboratively with your laboratory partners. Some laboratories may have a take-home component in
addition to the in-lab exercises.
If you cannot attend a lab session because of illness, notify your lab instructor before the start of the
laboratory session and provide doctor’s note within one week. If you will miss a lab session due to special
circumstances, including observation of a religious holiday, notify your lab instructor in advance. Missing
more than three laboratory sessions will result in a score of zero for the entire laboratory portion of the
course.
OFFICE HOURS
My office is in a restricted-access laboratory, and I have to be present to admit you. Consequently, drop-in
meetings are not feasible. To schedule an appointment, send an email to mrockman@nyu.edu proposing
several specific meeting times that fit your schedule. I will reply with an invitation to office hours at one of those
meeting times that also fits my schedule. Please arrive at our appointed time.
Human Genetics Syllabus 2015
Week Date
Lecture Title
Assignments
Textbook Reading (Pierce 2e)
1
TH Sept 3
1
Introduction
Survey & Weismann paper
1.1-1.2
2
TU Sept 8
2
Mendel
PS1 assigned
3.1-3.3, 4.3
2
TH Sept 10
3
Pedigrees and sex linkage
3
Sept 14,15
Lab 1
FlyLab
PS1 due
3
TU Sept 15
4
Cells, chromosomes, and mitosis
PS2 assigned
3
TH Sept 17
5
Meiosis
4
Sept 21,22
Lab 2
Microscopy of cells
PS2 due
3
TU Sept 22
6
Linkage
PS3 assigned
4
TH Sept 24
7
Hypothesis testing
5
Sept 28,29
Lab 3
Studying mitosis
PS3 due
5
TU Sept 29
8
Distributions
PS4 assigned
5
TH Oct 1
9
Quantitative traits
6
Oct 5,6
Lab
Review
6
TU Oct 6
10
Genotype and environment
6
TH Oct 8
11
DNA structure and replication
7
TU Oct 13
7
Oct 12,13
7
TH Oct 15
Exam
Through lecture 9
8
Oct 19,20
Lab 4
Extracting DNA from cells
8
TU Oct 20
12
The molecular gene
8
TH Oct 22
13
The human genome
PS6 assigned
9
Oct 26,27
Lab 5
Human Genetic Traits
PS6 due
9
TU Oct 27
14
Mutation
PS7 assigned
9
TH Oct 29
15
Molecular biotechnology methods
10
Nov 2,3
Lab 6
Genetic test for sickle cell anemia
PS7 and presentation proposals due
10
TU Nov 3
16
Population genetics
PS8 assigned
10
TH Nov 5
17
Molecular polymorphism and PCR
11
Nov 9,10
Lab
Review
11
TU Nov 10
18
Human diversity
11
TH Nov 12
Exam
Through lecture 17
12
Nov 16,17
Lab 7
Human genetic diversity I
12
TU Nov 17
19
Natural selection
12
TH Nov 19
20
Association mapping & genotyping methods
13
Nov 23,24
Lab 8
Human genetic diversity II
13
TU Nov 24
21
Personal genomics & sequencing methods
13
TH Nov 26
Thanksgiving
14
Nov 30, Dec 1
No labs
14
TU Dec 1
22
Forensics
PS10 assigned
14
TH Dec 3
23
Cancer
extra credit due
15
Dec 7,8
Lab
Student presentations
PS10 due
15
TU Dec 8
24
Development & reproductive technologies
15
TH Dec 10
25
Stem cells & gene therapy
16
Dec 14,15
Lab
Review
16
TU Dec 15
26
Synthesis & Review
17
TU Dec 22
Exam
Everything
3.5
2.1-2.2
2.3, 6.3
5.1-5.2
3.4
17.1
PS4 due
4.6, 17.2-17.3
PS5 assigned
8.2-8.3, 9.2-9.3
Fall Break
No labs
PS5 due
10.2, 10.4-10.5, 11.1-11.2
12.1, 12.3, 13.3
13.1
14.1, 14.3, 15.1
18.1-18.3
PS8 due
PS9 & extra credit assigned
17.4
5.4
PS9 due
Practice problems distributed
16.1-16.4, 9.4
14.4-14.5