Biology 303
Genetics
Department of Biology Dr. McMillan
Lecture: Monday,
Wednesday, Friday,
Laboratory: Tuesday
Instructor: Dr. Amy McMillan (SC268)
Office phone: 878-3756
Email: mcmillam@buffalostate.edu
Website: http://faculty.buffalostate.edu/mcmillam/
Office
Hours: Monday, Wednesday
Teaching Asst: Julie Trevett (SC303)
Email: TREVJB63@mail.buffalostate.edu
Office
Hours: M
Required Texts: Klug and Cummings. 2003. Concepts of Genetics 7th ed., Prentice Hall.
Pechenik.
2004. A Short Guide to Writing About Biology 5th ed.,
Wesley Longman.
Course Goals: The central goal of this course is to prepare students to understand, describe and analyze basic principles of classical and modern genetics. Additionally, students will understand how basic scientific concepts arise from observation and experimentation, and will improve their analytical thinking and problem solving skills.
Good Grades: Grades of A or B reflect mastery of the subject matter and should be the goal of every student. Earning these high grades requires serious effort and an effective strategy. While the following practices will not guarantee a high grade, they have proven to be effective for students in previous semesters. I recommend that serious students adopt all of these strategies.
Before lecture
Read the assigned chapter, as listed on the syllabus. Take a few notes on the important points. When you finish the chapter, check the chapter summary to see if you and the authors agree on what was important. NOTE: the textbook is not a novel; do not read it as if it were.
During lecture
Never miss a lecture. There is no automatic penalty for missing a lecture; however, attending lecture is the single most important thing you can do to prepare for exams. Exams are based on lecture topics. Take notes and leave space for more notes as you review.
After lecture
Go over your notes within 24 hours of taking them. Recopy or type notes, add comments that you remember but didn’t have time to write in class. Use your textbook or another student’s notes to fill in topics you did not understand during lecture.
For lab
Read the lab handout! Never miss a lab. Attendance is required (see attendance below)!! Come prepared to do experiments and use lab time efficiently.
Once a week
Do the homework problems. These problems will be similar to exam questions. For help, refer to the study guide, ask other students, ask the teaching assistant, or come to my office hours. Prepare lab reports as needed (see syllabus).
Organize a study group
Meet with your group 2 or 3 times a week. Compare lecture notes, work on homework problems, and discuss lab reports.
NOTE: Working together is a highly effective means
of learning, and I strongly encourage it. However, you are expected to turn in
a unique product, i.e., identical lab reports are not acceptable!!
If you are having difficulty…
Come to my office hours or, if those times are not convenient, schedule an appointment to see me. Sooner is better than later!
Course Policies
Attendance: Students are expected to attend every lecture. The exams will focus on lecture material. Topics will be discussed in the lectures which expand on material covered in the required reading. Therefore, attendance is important for doing well in the course. However, attendance will not be taken at every lecture and there is no automatic penalty assessed for absences. Students are required to attend every laboratory as scheduled. Failure to attend will result in a zero for that laboratory experiment. For excused absences of labs, students will be assigned research papers to make-up the grade.
Academic Misconduct: All students at Buffalo State College are
expected to display honesty and integrity in completing course requirements.
“Academic misconduct” refers to plagiarism or cheating on examinations or
assignments, and is inconsistent with the aims and goals of
Disabilities: Any student who requires accommodations to complete the requirements and expectations of this course because of a disability is invited to make his or her needs known to me and/or to Marianne Savino, coordinator of services for students with disabilities, South Wing 120D, ext. 4500.
Course format: The course consists of a lecture and a
laboratory component. The lecture will introduce core concepts in classical and
modern genetics. See attached syllabus for topics and reading assignments.
The laboratory component is divided into three categories. (1) Two semester-long experiments in classical genetics. (2) Three introductory exercises. (3) Independent research project. Handouts describing each experiment will be provided in lab or through the website. Students are responsible for reading the materials prior to class and for being prepared to start experiments.
The
laboratory component requires extensive lab work outside the scheduled
laboratory time. Students must be able
to schedule additional time in the lab to complete experiments and to complete
the independent research project.
Evaluation: Final grades will be based on three components: midterm exams, laboratory reports, and a comprehensive final exam.
Midterm exams: There will be three midterm exams, each of which will focus on the lecture and laboratory material that preceded it. Each midterm exam will be worth 100 pts. The three midterm exams together will account for 43% of final grade. No make-up exams will be given except under extreme circumstances.
Laboratory reports: The laboratory grade will be based on participation and completion of assigned laboratory reports. See syllabus for tentative schedule of laboratory exercises. The lab portion of the course will contribute 200 points or 29% of final grade. Late work will be graded down by 10% per day late. Reports will not be accepted after 5 days past the due date. The distribution of points for each exercise is as follows:
Classical Genetics Introductory Experiments Independent Project
Quantitative Genetics 30 pts Behavior Genetics 15 pts Research Proposal 15 pts
Linkage Analysis 30 pts Codon Usage 15 pts PowerPoint Present. 30 pts
Gene Regulation 15 pts Research Report 50 pts
Final exam: The final exam will be worth 200 points and correspond to 29% of the final grade. It will be a comprehensive exam and will include material covered during the semester in both the laboratory and lecture sessions.
Summary of point distribution for final grade:
Midterm exams (300 points) 43%
Laboratory grade (200 points) 29%
Final exam (200 points) 29%
Final grade: Scores from midterm exams, laboratory exercises and the final exam will be summed. The resulting score will determine the final grade based on this scale:
Grading scale:
Points Grade
640-700 A
630-639 A-
620-629 B+
570-619 B
560-569 B-
550-559 C+
500-549 C
490-499 C-
480-489 D+
420-479 D
<420 E
Lab Safety: Guidelines for safe laboratory practices in BIO303 are outlined below. These rules should be followed whenever students are in SC306. In addition to these general rules, each handout will carry special guidelines specific to that laboratory exercise. Failure to follow any of these guidelines will be considered non-participation in the lab exercise and result in a 50% reduction in the score for the corresponding laboratory report.
1. Eating, drinking and smoking are strictly prohibited in the laboratory.
2. Chemicals: Students must be familiar with the physical properties of all chemicals used in the laboratory. This includes their flammability, reactivity, toxicity and proper disposal.
3. Neatness counts: Lab benches should be cleaned at the beginning of the lab period and before students leave for the day. Work spaces should be clear and orderly. Extra books or winter clothing should be stored in the back of the lab.
4. Safety Equipment: Students should be familiar with the location and use of safety equipment, particularly eye-washes, safety showers, and fire extinguishers. Any spill, accident or injury should be immediately reported to the instructor.
Biology 303
Genetics
Department of Biology Dr. McMillan
Tentative Lecture, Laboratory and Exam Schedule
Lectures Tuesday
Laboratory
Jan. 24 Overview of Course Problem Spaces
26 Mitosis/meiosis (Chpt. 2) In Genetics
28 Mendelian Genetics (Chpt. 3)
Jan. 31 Independent Assortment Linkage
Feb. 2 Probability/Chi Square analysis (Drosophila melanogaster)
4 Allelic interactions (Chpt. 4)
7 Epistasis Quantitative Genetics
9 Sex-determination (Chpt. 7) (Brassica rapa)
11 Sex-linkage (Chpt. 5)
14 Linkage I (Chpt. 6) Behavioral Genetics
16 Linkage II (C. elegans)
18 Genetic Mapping (Chpt. 24)
21 NO CLASS – President’s Day No Lab
23 Genetic Material (Chpt. 9)
25 Structure DNA/RNA
28 Double Helix EXAM I
March 2 DNA Replication (Chpt. 10)
4 Eukaryotic Replication
7 Genetic Code (Chpt. 12) Codon Bias
9 Transcription/ Translation (Gene Databases)
11 Eukaryotic mRNA (Chpt. 13)
14 One Gene – One Enzyme Independent Project
16 Mutation I (Chpt. 14) Proposal
18 Mutation II
21 Lac Operon (Chpt. 17) EXAM II
23 Catabolite Activation
25 Activators and Enhancers (Chpt. 21)
28 NO CLASS – Spring Break No Lab
30 NO CLASS – Spring Break
April 1 NO CLASS – Spring Break
April 4 Mechanisms of Activation Ara Operon
6 Chromatin and Transcription (E. coli)
8 Examples of Eukaryotic Regulation
11 Population Genetics (Chpt. 25) Independent Research
13 Allelic/Genotypic Frequencies
15 Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
18 Testing Hardy-Weinberg Assumptions Heritability
20 Selection (B. rapa)
22 Genetic Drift
25 Recombinant DNA Technology (Chpt. 18) EXAM III
27 Gene Cloning
29 Genomics (Chpt. 19)
May 2 Biotechnology (Chpt. 20) Presentations
4 Human Cloning
6 NO CLASS - STUDY DAY
CEP
Comprehensive Final Exam
From