Dr. Sandra Thompson-Jaeger

Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Biology

CW114

901.321.3453

Genetics (BIOL311)

Dr T-J’s fall 2012 schedule:

Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday
8am
8:30am
9am / Office / Office / Office
9:30am / Genetics Lab
10am
10:30am / Office
11am / Chairs meeting
11:30am
12noon
12:30pm
1pm / Genetics / Genetics / Genetics
1:30pm
2pm / Lab Prep / Genetics Lab / Office / Bio 111 Lab / Departmental meeting
2:30pm
3pm
3:30pm
4pm / FA Officers meeting
4:30pm

Course description: A study of the structure and function of nucleic acids in viruses, prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Basic concepts, principles and applications of classical, molecular and population genetics will be covered. Prerequisites: Grade of “C” or better in BIOL 112, CHEM 212. Corequisite: BIOL 311L. Offered in the Fall semester. One semester, three credits.

Required textbook:

Concepts of Genetics,10th edition

Klug, Cummings, Spencer, Palladino

Recommended:

Concepts of Genetics

Student Handbook and Solutions Manual

Harry Nickla, author

Grading: Each of the four exams given during lecture periods will be 100 points. Exams may include problems, multiple choice, fill in the blank, true/false, and short answer questions. The fifth exam, given during Finals week, will be cumulative and worth 150 points.

There will be three 20-point quizzes and three10-point homework (problem) assignments, and other short assignments given as deemed necessary.

Total points possible are~640.

Make-up exam/quiz policy: Make-up exams will be given only for very compelling, documented reasons, which include severe illness and a death in the immediate family. Make-up exams may have a different format from the regularly scheduled exams. If you know you are going to miss an exam because of a death in the family, funeral, surgery, etc. you must come to me BEFOREHAND so we can arrange for the make-up exam. If you are too ill to come and take an exam, call me or leave a message with Ms. Leah Allen (administrative assistant in the School of Sciences, 321-3445). If you are ill, and thus absent, on exam day, I MUST see a doctor’s note when you return to class.

There will be no make-up quizzes, but during either the last full week or finals week I will give a “general amnesty quiz” which you may take, if you choose; the grade on this quiz can replace your lowest grade on any one of the other three quizzes.

Grading scale: 100-90.0% = A; 80.0-89.9% = B; 70.0-79.9% = C; 60.0-69.9% = D; below 60% = F

How to do well in this course:

n Make every attempt to be present for every lecture. (If you are absent, it is your responsibility to contact a classmate to find out what you missed, which includes any announcements about quizzes, homework, etc.)

n Read the “Summary Points” for each assigned chapter before and after you read the chapter. After lecture (best: on the same day), go to the textbook (or any assigned on-line reading) to help you understand topics that we covered in class.

nStudy genetics the same way that you study for a math course. Problem solving is a BIG part of genetics. Indeed, a fellow Prof once said to me “Genetics is really math masquerading as biology”. If you do assigned and recommended practice problems before exams, you most likely will perform better at test time. Practice, practice, practice should be your mantra!

n Please ask questions about concepts you do not understand. If you do not want to ask during lecture period, e-mail me or come by my office to talk. If many students ask the same question, that is very helpful information for me….I know which topics need more time.

Topic Schedule:

Week / Topics / Text/assignments
1: August 20-24 / Intro to Genetics
Mitosis, Meiosis
Mendel / Ch 1
Ch 2
Ch 3
2: August 27-31 / Mendelian genetics, cont.
Extensions of Mendelian genetics / Ch 3
Problem set (10)
Ch 4
3: September 5-7 / Extensions of Mendelian genetics, cont.
Chromosome mapping in eukaryotes / Ch 4
Problem set (10)
Ch 5
4: September 10-14 / DNA structure/analysis
EXAM I (WEDNESDAY)
DNA analysis, cont. / Ch 10
Ch 10
5: September 17-21 / DNA replication
Telomeres, recombination
Chromosome organization / Ch 11
Ch 11
Ch 12
6: September 24-28 / Genetic code, transcription
Translation and proteins / Ch 13
QUIZ
Ch 14
7: October 1-5 / Genetic analysis of bacteria
Sex determination and chromosomes / Ch 6
Ch 7
8: October 8-12 / Exam II (MONDAY)
Extranuclear inheritance
Chromosome mutations / Ch 9
Ch 8
9: October 15-19 / REST! Enjoy your fall break
10: October 22-26 / Gene mutation, DNA repair Prokaryotic gene regulation
Film: Epigenetics / Ch 15
Ch 16
QUIZ
11: October 29-November 2 / Eukaryotic gene regulation
Epigenetics
Cancer, regulation of cell cycle / Ch 17
Special topic
Ch 19
12: November 5-9 / Cancer/cell cycle
EXAM III (WEDNESDAY)
DNA forensics / Ch 19
Special topic
13: November 14-18 / Genomics, Bioinformatics
Applications, ethics of genetic engineering / Ch 21
Ch 22
14: November 19-21 / Quantitative genetics, multifactorial traits
Population genetics / Ch 23
QUIZ
Ch 25
15: November 26-30 / Population genetics, cont.
Film: Genetics of Bitter Taste Perception / Ch 25
Problem set (10)
16: December 3-7 / EXAM IV (MONDAY)
Developmental Genetics
Genetics of behavior / Ch 18
Ch 24

December 10-14: EXAM V (during Finals week).

The topic schedule shown above is SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

Anyone found cheating may be given an F for the course.

According to university policy, more than eight hours of absence from lecture will result in a failing grade for the course.

During lecture, please ensure that all beepers, pagers, cell phones, and laptops are turned off or silenced.

For Genetics in the News: