Biology 414 - Senior Seminar in Developmental Biology

Spring 1998

Abbreviated Course Syllabus

Discussion - Wednesday and Friday, 1:10-2:25, Room 215 Kunkel Hall

Course instructor: Dr. Elaine Reynolds, Assistant Professor of Biology

Last Updated: January 19, 1998

Course description, concepts and goals

The senior seminar course is designed as a culminating experience for a student's education in biology as an alternative to independent study or honors. It will require students to integrate the knowledge obtained in coursework throughout their education and use that knowledge to critically examine a focused issue in biology. It is a chance for students to learn and evaluate through the study of the primary literature in a particular field how experiments are conducted, how research and its conclusions are presented to colleagues, and how conclusions are integrated into the understanding of an experimental problem. This goals of this course will be accomplished primarily thorough discussion among class members. Rather than a passive experience such as a class with a lecture format, the seminar course is designed to be an active learning experience with a dynamic flow of information between the students in the class with the instructor's guidance. Students will also be required to research and present scientific literature to the class since both informal and formal forms of communication are important skills for students to master. Senior Seminar on Current Topics in Developmental Biology focuses on the cellular, molecular and genetic aspects of Developmental Biology. During the Spring 1998 semester, we will focus on the conservation of developmental genes and their products between fruitflies and vertebrates. We will also briefly examine some ideas on what this conservation says about the evolution of development. At first glance, the development of the invertebrate, Drosophila melanogaster, and vertebrates would appear to be very different. Many anatomical details of their development and overall body architecture are dissimilar. In addition, vertebrate development is dependent on cell-cell interactions while Drosophila development is largely autonomous. However, much of what we know about the molecular processes of vertebrate development comes from studies of genes that affect Drosophila development. We will examine how the genes that have been determined to be important in determining the body structure in Drosophila have been conserved and utilized in the development of the vertebrate body plan.

Schedule of Topics (Spring 1998)

week 1-1/28 & 30 Class introduction/Library and Computer Tools

week 2-2-2/4 & 6 Review of Drosophila and Vertebrate development

week 3-2/11 & 13 Isolation and characterization of homeotic mutant in Drosophila

week 4-2/18 & 20 Molecular characterization of homeotic mutants in Drosophila

week 5-2/25 & 27 Genomic organization and expression of homeotic genes in Drosophila

week 6-3/4 & 6 Genomic conservation of homeotic genes in vertebrates

week 7-3/11 & 13 Functional conservation of homeotic genes in vertebrates

week of 3/16 Spring Break

week 9-3/25 & 27 Presentation I-selected paper(s) on homeotic genes

week 10-4/1 & 3 Role of Homeobox proteins in Vertebrate Limb development

week 11-4/8 & 10 Role of Hedgehog/Wingless in Drosophila "Limbs"

week 12-4/15 & 17 Hedgehog/Wingless Homologues in Limb development

week 13-4/22 & 24 Conservation of Signaling Pathway Receptors

week 14-4/29 & 5/1 Overview of Evolutionary Issues

week 15-5/6 & 8 Presentation II-review of other conserved pathways

Please direct any comments about this course homepage by email to reynolde@lafayette.edu

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