Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 2 hours / session

Prerequisites

7.06 Cell Biology

Course Description

The goal of this course is to teach both the fundamentals of nuclear cell biology as well as the methodological and experimental approaches upon which they are based. Lectures will cover the background and fundamental findings in a particular area of nuclear cell biology. Class discussions will cover one assigned paper in the same area. These seminal papers are used to understand both the important elements of the field as well as to provide concrete examples of the experimental approaches and logic used to establish these findings. Two students will be assigned to present the paper for each discussion class and faculty and students will participate in the discussion. All students will be expected to have read the paper under consideration and be prepared for a lively discussion.

Evaluation

Students will be evaluated by two criteria. Participation in class discussions will constitute 50% of the grade. The remaining 50% of the evaluation will be based on a written proposal due at the end of the semester.

ACTIVITIES PERCENTAGES
Class discussions 50%
Written proposal 50%

Calendar

Instructors:

Prof. Phillip Sharp

Prof. Richard A. Young

Guest Lecturers:

Professor Iain Cheeseman (IC)

Professor Rudolf Jaenisch (RJ)

SES # TOPICS LECTURERS
1 Introduction: Genome and systems biology Young
2 Discussion: Genome and systems biology Young
3 Lecture: Cell cycle Young
4 Discussion: Cell cycle Young
5 Lecture: Transcriptional regulation Young
6 Discussion: Transcriptional regulation Young
7 Lecture: Transcription and chromatin modification Young
8 Discussion: Transcription and chromatin modification Young/Sharp
9 Lecture: Chromosomes/replication Cheeseman
10 Discussion: Chromosomes/replication Cheeseman/Young/Sharp
11 Lecture: Epigenetics Jaenisch
12 Discussion: Epigenetics Young/Sharp
13 Lecture: Nuclear structure/export Sharp
14 Discussion: Nuclear structure/export Sharp/Young
15 Lecture: Chromatin and gene expression I Young
16 Discussion: Chromatin and gene expression I Young/Sharp
17 Lecture: Chromatin and gene expression II Sharp
18 Discussion: Chromatin and gene expression II Sharp
19 Lecture: Alternative splicing and polyadenylation Sharp
20 Discussion: Alternative splicing and polyadenylation Sharp/Young
21 Lecture: RNA interference and microRNAs Sharp
22 Discussion: RNA interference and microRNAs Sharp/Young
23 Lecture: RNA interference and transcription Sharp
24 Discussion: RNA interference and transcription Young/Sharp