Formal discussion, by instructor, of genetics and the relationship between genotype and phenotype, followed by student-led discussion based on assigned readings. Structure of genes and their regulation beginning with lectures on nucleic acid chemistry and a critical review of recombinant DNA technology and then focusing on the molecular mechanisms controlling gene expression. Special emphasis on gene regulation in developing systems. A biochemical, biophysical, and molecular view of cell biology. Topics include the biochemistry and biophysical properties of membranes, membrane proteins, and associated molecules, the extracellular matrix, biological signal transduction, and intracellular second messenger generation.
Lectures are from current research literature.
Development of animal eggs from fertilization until morphological specialization. Patterning is studied genetically, experimentally through regeneration, and theoretically. Morphogenesis is analyzed in terms of cell behavior. Attention to the role of extracellular matrices in both processes. The cell cycle, growth control and cancer, cell lineages and differentiation, cellular analysis of the immune system, and the cell biology of the nervous system.