Course prerequisites:  BISC 202, MBB 221 and 222 with a grade C- or better. MBB 331 is strongly recommended.

 

Course description: There is a considerable demand for people that are highly skilled in the various techniques associated with gene cloning. Biomedical companies and institutes regularly search for people with theoretical and practical training in molecular genetics. Also, if you are thinking of an academic career in biology, expertise in gene cloning will be useful in disciplines ranging from biochemistry to ecology.  This course will train you towards acquiring those skills. The course will alternate between theory and practice to promote understanding and thereby learning. Students will gain most of the pertinent information from lectures. The laboratory exercises will be evaluated by brief reports as well as discussions in the lectures. The course will also contain lectures on novel techniques that are too time-consuming to carry out in a teaching lab, but nevertheless are very important for a career in molecular genetics. These lectures will be supplemented by a "field trip" to the Michael Smith Genome Science Centre in Vancouver, which will provide insight into high throughput genomics technologies.

 

Lab exercises: RNA, genomic DNA and plasmid DNA extraction, cDNA synthesis, cloning by blunt-end ligation, cloning by recombination, fusion of DNA fragments by PCR stitching.

 

Textbook: An Introduction to Genetic Engineering, 2nd Edby Desmond S. T. Nicholl , Cambridge University press is an affordable (US$ 30) and good text. Other texts such as Gene Cloning and DNA analysis: an introduction, 4th Ed, by T.A. Brown., are also good although more expensive.

 

 

Mark distribution:    Laboratory exercises 40%

                                             Midterm 25 %

                                             Final exam: 35 %