This course examines a variety of symbiotic associations between bacteria and animals.
Emphasis is placed is on parasitic interactions between pathogenic bacteria and humans.
The lectures and readings deal with mechanisms of bacterial pathogenesis and the general nature of host responses to bacterial pathogens. Hence, some understanding of animal biology and basic bacteriology is appropriate for this course. The materials presented in this course bring together many areas of biological science which often stand as separate disciplines, such as bacteriology, ecology, immunology, animal physiology, pathology, genetics and molecular biology. Probabaly no one in the course, including the instructor, has thorough knowledge in all these areas of biology, and all participants are encouraged to bring discussion to the areas of their strength and to build in the areas of their weakness. The course is divided into three main parts.