Genetics, Genomics

Abstract

Genetics and epigenetics form the blueprints for all life. Understanding genetics is critical to understanding everything from evolution to cancer. This course covers the fundamentals of modern genetics, with an emphasis on molecular mechanisms, and the use of genetic tools to understand biological biological processes in bacteria, model organisms and humans.

Objective

At the end of this course you will know how traits are inherited between generations and how they move through populations. You will understand the molecular processes that give rise to observable genetic outcomes. You will know the most important genetic tools in different organisms. You will understand how genetic “problems” give rise to a variety of diseases and the fundamentals of modern genetic engineering.

Content

The appearance and function of an organism (phenotype) is determined by the interplay between its genome (genotype) and the environment: Genotype + environment = phenotype. Understanding these interactions to the point where we can ultimately predict the phenotype from knowledge of the genotype and environmental factors is one of the great challenges of biology. The goal of this course is that you learn how genetic information is passed between individuals and through populations, and how genetic/genomic methods are used to understand biological processes (the connection between genotype and phenotype). This course is organized into two parts. The first part is a solid grounding in modern genetic theory, with an emphasis on molecular mechanisms. What do we really mean when we say traits are passed between generations? How do we measure traits? How do we turn the observable frequency of trait occurrence into an understanding of a gene in a chromosome? Why is sex such a big deal and why do organisms put so much energy into it? How do organisms protect their genomes and what goes wrong when that protection fails? The second part is a series of expert lectures on applications in modern genetics. How can one use solid understanding of genetic theory to learn about other aspects of biology? How does next-generation sequencing work? What is CRISPR genome editing? Why is brewer’s yeast a powerful genetic tool? How does documenting disease occurrence in many, many individuals tell you where the responsible gene lies on a chromosome? How can one screen all the genes in a genome to figure out which one(s) are responsible for a phenotype?

Resources