Course Descriptions

BIO 230 - Molecular Genetics

4 Credits

A study of the transmission of genetic information with emphasis on the structure and function of nucleic acids. The genetics of prokaryotes, eukaryotes and viruses will be covered. The molecular basis of replication, repair, recombination, and gene expression will also be examined. Lab experiments introduce a variety of molecular biology techniques such as replica plating, bacterial conjugation and transformation, the isolation and restriction enzyme cleavage of plasmid DNA, and restriction mapping.

Prerequisite(s): BIO 155 with a grade of C or better and CHE 151 with a grade of C or better, or permission of instructor.

Course Learning Outcomes
1. Diagram and explain the mechanisms of inheritance in classical Mendelian mono- and dihybrid crosses, in incomplete dominance, in codominance, in gene interaction and epistasis, and in sex-linked crosses.
2. Determine linkage and construct simple eukaryotic chromosome maps by doing diploid and haploid mapping.
3. Explain the bacterial sexual processes of transformation, transduction and conjugation, and construct simple bacterial chromosome maps using these processes.
4. Describe the chemistry and structure of nucleic acids, and the structure of prokaryotic and eukaryotic chromosomes.
5. Describe the details of DNA replication, transcription, and translation at the molecular level.
6. Describe the regulation of gene expression in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, and also the genetic control of cancer and eukaryotic development.
7. Distinguish between the DNA repair mechanisms of photoreactivation, excision repair, mismatch repair, postreplication repair, and error-prone repair.
8. Apply complementation testing, deletion mapping, and restriction mapping to selected genetic problems.
9. Describe the basic “tools” of genetic engineering (egs. restriction enzymes, vectors, ligase, host cells, etc. ), some of the strategies for gene cloning and screening, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the 2 methods for sequencing DNA.
10. Collect, analyze and interpret data from molecular biology experiments, and summarize the findings in written laboratory reports.

Course Offered Spring

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Fall Semester 2024
Spring Semester 2024
Summer Session 2024