Genetics Syllabus Summer 2008
Instructor: Heather E.
Lorimer Ph.D.
Youngstown State University,
Biology 3721, 30223
(M,
W. F 10:30-12:45) 3 s.h. Ward Beecher 4043
Instructor: Dr. Heather E.
Lorimer
Office hours: M,W,
3:00-4:30,
Office: 3013 Ward Beecher Phone: (330)
941-7179
e-mail: helorime@cc.ysu.edu
web-page: http://www.cc.ysu.edu/~helorime/
Text: “Genetics from Gene to Genome” Hartwell et al. 3rd Ed.
2004, McGraw Hill.
Prerequisites:
Principles of Biology (2601 and 2602), or admission into NEOUCOM-YSU
About this course: Biology majors are required to take a minimum
of 2 core courses, one each from two of three groups (A,B, and
C). Genetics is a group A core course designed to cover both
basic and advanced concepts in classical genetics. This course is
also designated as Critical Thinking Intensive, and therefor fulfills
part of your GER requirements for critical thinking courses. This
course is highly recommended, if not required, for the following
career/higher education paths (among others): pre-med, cancer research,
biotech, forensic science, biology education, genetic counseling.
bioinformatics, population biology/ecology, veterinary medicine,
pharmacy, zoology, and cellular or molecular biology.
Goals: After
completing this course you should have acquired a good understanding of
Mendelian analysis, linkage analysis, gene mutation, genomics, cancer
genetics, genetics of model organisms, and population genetics.
You will have gained experience in data analysis and experimental
design. Your understanding of the material will be measured
primarily through problem solving. Problem solving skills that
you will develop and use in this course are applicable to many areas of
endeavor outside of genetics.
How to Do Well in this Course: First, learning genetics is
usually very time consuming!
Genetics has earned a reputation as a stumbling block to some students
at universities all over the world. There are several reasons for
this. One of the most important reasons is that doing well in a
Genetics class requires very different skills then doing well in an
anatomy class or a microbiology class. Analytical thinking is the
most important skill necessary for understanding genetics.
Memorization skills will help you, but not anywhere near as much as in
most science classes.
A good understanding of genetics requires that you be able to sift
through an assortment of possibilities, determine which are
likely and which aren’t and often to calculate probabilities of certain
kinds of events happening. The ability to integrate mathematical
analysis with a firm understanding of biological events is essential to
succeed in genetics. The best way to gain this skill is to work
lots of problems. There are lots of problems at the end of each
chapter. Read the chapters, make sure that you understand the
figures and diagrams.
You are better off listening and payihng attention in class, writing
down only occasional notes, then trying to write down all the words on
the slides or that Dr. Lorimer says. Having written text is MUCH
less helpful then trying to understand methods and concepts.
Always remember that Genetics is about living things, and if you always
keep in mind organisms, cells, and chromosomes, the concepts will make
much more sense.
This course has been designed to encourage and reward lots of problem
solving. Work on the practice problems at the end of the
chapters. See Dr. Lorimer in office hours or e-mail her if you
have questions! Dr. Lorimer wants you to succeed!
Ultimately, learning the material and how to solve problems is your
responsibility, but Dr. Lorimer will do what she can to help you
develop this mastery.
Grading:
500 points total,
300 from 3 exams,
150 from 3 quizzes,
50 from 5 homework assignments.
Homework: There will be 5
homework assignments worth 10 points each. Feel free to work with
your classmates in solving these problems, but complete each assignment
yourself. Students who rely on other students to actually work
the problems, copying the work in time to hand it in, often do very
badly on quizzes and exams.
Note: Due to class size one or two homework problems will be
chosen at random for grading. If by chance those chosen are the
ones you did well on - you are in luck, if they are ones you did badly
on - you are out of luck. Do all problems as well as possible to
avoid relying on chance!
All homeworks are due at the beginning of class on day due. Late
homeworks will not be accepted! (early ones are though)
Quizzes: There will
be 3 quizzes. They are worth 50 points each. They, like the
homework, will concentrate on problem solving. You will be given 30
minutes to complete a quiz.
Tests: There will
be 3 tests worth 100 points each. Tests typically have some
vocabulary/matching questions, some multiple choice, and some
short-answer problems solving questions. You will be given 1 hour to
complete a test.
Makeup quizzes and exams will only be given under the following
circumstances.
1. Medical reason with report from doctor or nurse, containing
legible name of both patient and health care professional, and a
contact number for verification.
2. Death in the immediate family, with funeral notice or obituary
for confirmation.
3. Accident or other issue involving the police with police
report for verification.
Any Makeup quizzes or exams may be quite different then those taken by
the rest of the class, makeup exams are usually completely essay
style/problem solving.
Points: Answers to test, quiz, and homework problems are
awarded points for both the correct answer and the calculations etc
required to get there. Students who give correct answers to
problems without showing their work will receive only partial credit.
Final grades are based on a modified standard curve. Total points
are added up, the average is determined, and grades are based on an
individual’s placement relative to the average. However, the
curve is modified as follows; if all students do well then all can get
good grades. Any student with over 90% will definitely have an A,
over 80% at least a B, over 70% at least a C. In reality, due to
the point distributions, in most terms the A cutoff has averaged around
82%.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Course Schedule
Week Date
Topic
Chapter
I Mon. May
19 About Genetics, Mendelian Genetics,
1, 2,
Wed. May
21 Homework
1 due
Extensions to Mendel, chromosome
theory, 3,
Fri.
May 23 Quiz 1
chromosome theory, Population genetics
21
II Mon. May
26 Memorial
Day, no class,
Wed. May
28 Population genetic, Mapping
21, 5
Friday May
30 Homework 2
due, Mapping
III Mon. June 2
Test 1
(chapters 1-5, 20) Mutation
7
Wed. June
4 Homework 3 due
Genetic
methods, genomics 9 -12,
Friday June
6 Quiz 2
(Quiz 2
answers/explanations) Genetic methods, genomics
9 -11
IV Mon. June 9
Chromosomes
13-14
Wed. June
11 Homework 4
due Chromosome abnormalities
14
(Note:
Thursday June 12 is the last day you can withdraw and get a grade of W)
Friday June
13 Test 2
(chapters 7, 9-14)
V Mon. June 16
Prokaryote genetics,
15
Wed. June
18 Homework 5 due,
Organellar
genetics 16
Friday June 20
Cancer genetics
Quiz 3
19
VI Mon. June 23
Developmental Genetics,
20
Wed. June
25 Homework 6
due
Evolutionary
genetics 22
Fri.
June 27 Test 3 (chapters 15, 16,
19-22,)
Course Schedule
Week Date
Topic
Chapter
I Mon. Jan
14 About Genetics, Mendelian
Genetics
1, 2
Wed. Jan 16
Mendelian Genetics
2
Fri. Jan
18
Extensions to Mendel
3
II Mon. Jan
21 Martin Luther King
Day University Holiday No Class
Wed. Jan 23
Homework
1 due
Friday
Jan 25
Chromosome theory, sex linkage
4
III Mon. Jan
28 Chromosome theory, sex
linkage 4
Wed.
Jan 30
Homework
2 due Population Genetics
21
Friday Feb
1 Quiz 1
IV Mon. Feb. 4
Wed.
Feb.
6 Homework 3
due Mapping
5
Friday
Feb.
8
Mapping
5
V Mon. Feb.
11 Mapping
5
Wed.
Feb.
13 Homework
4
due DNA p.
155-166, 7
Friday
Feb. 15
Test 1 Postponed until Monday!.
Chapters 1-5, 21
VI Mon. Feb.
18 Test 1!
Wed. Feb.
20
9
Fri.
Feb.
22 Homework
5 NOTE! REVISED 4:45
Thursday! PRINT A NEW ONE!due
VII Mon. Feb. 25
Gene Function, Mutation
8
Wed. Feb.
27
Genomes
9
Fri. Feb.
29 Homework 6A and 6B due
VIII Mon. March
3 Quiz
2
Wed. March
5 Genome
Analysis
,
10
Fri. March
7 Genotype
from
GenomesSystems
Biology and proteomics
11, 12
Spring Break March 9 - March 16
IX Mon. March 17
Wed. March
19
Homework 7 NOTE! REVISED 3:44 -problem 2,
Thursday! PRINT A NEW ONE!due,
Chromosomes
and abnormalities
13/14
Fri. March
21
Quiz 3
X Mon. March 24
Wed. March
26
Homework 8
due Prokaryote genetics,
15
Fri. March
28
Test 2 (Ch 7, 9-14)
(Note: Thursday March 27 is the last day you
can withdraw and get a grade of W)
XI Mon. March 31
Wed.
April
2 Organellar genetics
16
Fri.
April
4
XII Mon. April
7 Cancer genetics
19
Wed.
April
9 Homework 9 due
Fri. April
11
Quiz 4
XIII Mon. April
14 Model organisms,:
www.mhhe.com/hartwell3
Wed.
April 16
Fri. April
18
Developmental Genetics,
20
XIV Mon. April 21
Homework 10
due
Wed. April
23
Quiz 5
Fri. April
25
Evolutionary genetics
22
XV Mon. April 28
Wed.
April 30
Homework 11 due
(extra credit)
Fri.
May
2 Test 3 (15, 16 19, 20, 22 model organisms)
Final Exam Friday
May 9 , 8:00-9:50
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended problems: Genetics, Hartwell et al. 4th
edition
Chapter 2: Social and Ethical: 2 Solved: “solving Genetic
Problems” very important! II, III Problems: 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 15, 18,
23, 29, 36
Chapter 3: Social and Ethical: 1, 2, 3 Solved:I,
II Problems:2, 3, 7, 9, 13, 14, 17, 18, 22, 32, 39
Chapter 4: Social and Ethical: 1, 2, 3 Solved:
II, III Problems: 3, 12, 14, 21, 24, 27, 28, 35, 40
Chapter 21: Social and Ethical: 1. Solved: I, II,
III Problems: 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14
Chapter 5: Social and Ethical: 1, 2. Solved: I, II,
III Problems: 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 20, 21, 24, 29, 34, 35
Chapter 7: Solved: I, II, III Problems: 3, 7,
8, 14, 16, 17, 23, 27, 28
Chapter 9: Social and Ethical: 1, 2. Solved: I,
III Problems: 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 19, 29
Chapter 10: Social and Ethical: 1, 2. Solved: I
Problems: 3, 12, 30, 34
Chapter 11: Social and Ethical: 1, 2, 3, 4 Solved:
I Problems: 3, 4, 10, 12, 16, 21, 22, 31
Chapter 12: Solved I
Chapter 13: Problems 13, 25, 27
Chapter 14: Social and Ethical: 1, 3
Solved: I, II Problems: 2, 7, 10, 11, 21, 36
Chapter 15: Social and Ethical: 1, 2
Solved: II Problems: 3, 9, 11, 14, 15, 20, 21
Chapter 16: Social and Ethical: 1 Solved: I,
II, III Problems: 6, 14, 17, 19, 25, 26, 28
Chapter 19: Social and Ethical: 2, 3
Solved: II, III Problems: 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 17, 18,
19, 21, 22, 24, 29
Reference A: Solved I, II; Problems 2, 6
Reference B: Solved I; Problems 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 10
Reference C: Problems 1, 3
Reference D: Solved II; Problems 2, 8
Reference E: Solved I; Problems 1, 3, 5