Follow this link to the sign-up sheet for the end-of-year party

A literature-centered course on the molecular genetics of information transfer in eukaryotes.

This course will consider issues related to the flow of genetic information in eukaryotic cells, which is the focus of Molecular Genetics. Primarily that will mean study of the mechanism and control of the processes of transcription and translation though some information is encoded in other ways such as protein phosphorylation or degradation of RNA or protein. Students will read and analyze papers from the primary research literature and a major goal of the course will be for each student to develop the ability to interpret and criticize research papers.

As in previous years, a major focus of the class will be on producing written material. The course is designed with the goals of the "writing in the disciplines" project in mind. In keeping with those goals, written expression will be used as a means to exploring major issues in Molecular Genetics.

Part of the writing will be done in the context of an online resource called a Wiki, a free-form web site that allows on-the-fly editing of web content. The class will use this class Wiki both as a means of undertanding problems in Molecular Genetics and to present that understanding to the rest of the class.