Students requiring
accommodations as a result of a disability must contact the Centre for Students
with Disabilities
(778-782-3112 or csdo@sfu.ca).
BISC 473-3
Gene Cloning
Spring 2005
Instructors: Jim
Mattsson, PhD, with 15 years of hands-on experience of gene cloning.
Office: B 8240
phone: 604 291-4291, e-mail: jim_mattsson@sfu.ca
Office hours: One hour after each lecture or by
appointment
Peter
Hollman, MSc, with several years of molecular genetics and laboratory teaching
experience.
Office: B9240
Local: 291-4850, e-mail: Peter_Hollmann@sfu.ca
Course
prerequisite: MBB 221 & BISC 202
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 and become what is sometimes
jokingly referred to as a gene jockey. The course will alternate between theory
and practice to promote understanding and thereby learning. Students will
initially use an up-to-date textbook on gene cloning to quickly gather the
necessary theoretical background to the experimental part of the course. The
laboratory exercises will be evaluated by brief reports as well as discussions
in the lectures. The second half of 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. The
understanding of these techniques is also highly useful in other classes such
as developmental and cellular biology where they are commonly referred to.
These lectures will focus at three main topics: 1. gene cloning using
recombination and advanced PCR techniques. 2. Analysis of gene function by
mutation and by the use of genetic transformation. 3. Large-scale analysis of
gene expression by micro array, SAGE and other technologies.
Required
text: Gene Cloning and DNA
analysis: an introduction, 4th Ed, by T.A. Brown.
Percentage
distribution of marks:
Laboratory exercises 40%
Midterm 25 %
Final exam: 35 %