Syllabus (pdf)

Tentative Lecture Schedule

Homework assignments

Presentations

Techniques presentations

Paper presentations

Topics

Schedule

Written Paper

Topics for written paper

Animated Molecules from the lectures in Quicktime format

Molecular Biology: Control and Expression of Genetic Information (BIOL 5304) DNA structure and replication, control of transcription and translation, and techniques in molecular genetics and recombinant DNA technology. Organic Chemistry (CHEM 3372) and Genetics (BIOL 3304) are prerequisites for this course.

Required Textbook:

Molecular Biology of the Gene, 2008, 6th ed.
Watson, Baker, Bell, Gann, Levine & Losick (authors)
Material on the website to Molecular Biology of the Gene

The text is the source of most of the lecture material.  Chapters 1-5 should be reviewed in advance of the course, especially for students who have not had a biochemistry course.

The text comes with a website at: http://www.aw-bc.com/watson.  You will need the password that comes with the text to access the materials.  The website includes study exercises, some of which will be used for homework exercises.  It also includes interactive animations, some of which will be assigned.  There are also structural tutorials.  These materials should be considered an aid to understanding the content of the lectures.  In addition, some structural animations will be found in the lectures.

 The computers in Room 111, Dedman Life Sciences Building are available for student use.  You must ask permission of the Biology office, Room 113, to gain entrance.  Or, you may use the security code.

All course materials will be available through Blackboard at http://cmsbb2.systems.smu.edu/ . The lectures will be available in 3 formats: for viewing as QuickTime movie, for viewing in a large pdf file, and for printing in 4-slides-per-page pdf format.  It is assumed that students will download or print the lecture notes and study them.

There are four major sections to this course and each section will include one homework assignment and one exam.  Homework problems will be assigned from the text, and some additional problems will be provided.  Complete solutions to the problems will be required.  Late homework is acceptable only by special permission of the instructor.  A Final Exam will cover all the material of the semester.

Students may ask questions via e-mail.  If the question is of general interest a reply will be emailed to all students.  Students may also be notified of other information directly by e-mail.  Therefore it is necessary that every student check her (or his) SMU email account regularly.  Some announcements will also be posted on the Blackboard site.

One written paper and one oral presentation will be required at the end of the semester.  The paper will be a written summary of an article from a list that will be published on the website.  It will be 1000-1200 words, and is due Monday December 1 at 2:00 PM.  The presentations will be during the last week of classes, and will be 10-15 minutes long.  In addition, all students will make a short presentation during the semester about an experimental technique or model organism.  More details will be on the website.

Grading: The course grades will be determined according to the following scheme:

HONOR CODE: It is expected that students have read sections of the University Bulletin concerning university regulations and academic honesty. In matters of homework, it is permitted to consult your classmates or others for assistance, but the work submitted must be your own.

Disability Accommodations:  Students needing academic accommodations for a disability must first contact Ms. Rebecca Marin, Coordinator, Services for Students with Disabilities (214-768-4557) to verify the disability and establish eligibility for accommodations.  They should then schedule an appointment with the professor to make appropriate arrangements.  (See University Policy No. 2.4.)

Religious Observance:  Religiously observant students wishing to be absent on holidays that require missing class should notify their professors in writing at the beginning of the semester, and should discuss with them, in advance, acceptable ways of making up any work missed because of the absence.  (See University Policy No. 1.9.)

Excused Absences for University Extracurricular Activities:  Students participating in an officially sanctioned, scheduled University extracurricular activity will be given the opportunity to make up class assignments or other graded assignments missed as a result of their participation.  It is the responsibility of the student to make arrangements with the instructor prior to any missed scheduled examination or other missed assignment for making up the work.  (University Undergraduate Catalogue)

Last updated Sunday, September 27, 2009

Comments/questions: E-mail me

Copyright 2009, Steven B. Vik, Southern Methodist University