This lab manual was created for BIOL 1107, Principles of Biology I, through an ALG Textbook Transformation Grant.
Covers current understanding of and modern approaches to human disease, emphasizing the molecular and cellular basis of both genetic disease and cancer. Specific topics include the genetics of simple and complex traits; Karyotypic analysis and positional cloning; genetic diagnosis; the roles of oncogenes and tumor suppressors in tumor initiation, progression and treatment; the interaction between genetics and environment; animal models of human disease; cancer; and conventional and gene therapy treatment strategies.
This activity is designed to give students an understanding of one aspect of what an engineer does and the ability to experience various steps in the engineering design process as it relates to a 3D printing task. Students transform into engineers as they work in teams to carry out a 3D printing task by using a blunt-tip needle syringe to print a line using a variety of colored liquid materials (shampoo, conditioner, aloe, and hand sanitizer) into a small plastic box filled with a gel base. Approximating the work of engineers, the teams observe the interactions between the printed material and the gel base at intervals of 10 minutes and iterate, or change, the ink base as necessary to achieve a goal. Using the dye to color the ink allows students to determine which material will permeate or diffuse throughout the base more effectively. Teams share their results to compare with their classmates. A real-world application for this investigation would be when engineers conduct research to develop new medicines, the goal is for the medicine to make its way through the body in the most effective way so that the body can heal.
Seminar covering topics of current interest in biology. Includes reading and analysis of research papers and student presentations. Contact Biology Education Office for topics. This course is one of many Advanced Undergraduate Seminars offered by the Biology Department at MIT. These seminars are tailored for students with an interest in using primary research literature to discuss and learn about current biological research in a highly interactive setting. The instructor for this course, Dr. Kosinski-Collins, is a member of the HHMI Education Group. Maintenance of the complex three-dimensional structure adopted by a protein in the cell is vital for function. Oftentimes, as a consequence of environmental stress, genetic mutation, and/or infection, the folded structure of a protein gets altered and multiple proteins stick and fall out of solution in a process known as aggregation. In many protein aggregation diseases, incorrectly folded proteins self-associate, forming fiber-like aggregates that cause brain cell death and dementia. In this course, the molecular and biochemical basis of the prion diseases, which include bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease), Creutzfedt-Jakob disease and kuru will be examined. Also discussed are other classes of misfolding diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease. The proteins involved in all of these disorders and how the proteins' three dimensional structures change during the course of these afflictions is covered as well as why prions from certain species cannot infect animals from other species based on protein sequence and structure. The course will then address possible detection methods and therapies that are under development to treat some of the protein aggregation diseases.
Subject assesses the relationships between sequence, structure, and function in complex biological networks as well as progress in realistic modeling of quantitative, comprehensive functional-genomics analyses. Topics include: algorithmic, statistical, database, and simulation approaches; and practical applications to biotechnology, drug discovery, and genetic engineering. Future opportunities and current limitations critically assessed. Problem sets and project emphasize creative, hands-on analyses using these concepts.
Seminar covering topics of current interest in biology. Includes reading and analysis of research papers and student presentations. Contact Biology Education Office for topics. This course is one of many Advanced Undergraduate Seminars offered by the Biology Department at MIT. These seminars are tailored for students with an interest in using primary research literature to discuss and learn about current biological research in a highly interactive setting. To understand and treat any disease with a genetic basis or predisposition, scientists and clinicians need effective ways of manipulating the levels of genes and gene products. Conventional methods for the genetic modification of many experimental organisms are technically demanding and time consuming. Just over 5 years ago, a new mechanism of gene-silencing, termed RNA interference (RNAi), was discovered. In addition to being a fascinating biological process, RNAi provides a revolutionary technology that has already changed the way biomedical research is done and that may even prove useful for genetic interventions in a clinical context. In this course, students learn how RNAi was discovered, how it works, and what its physiological relevance might be. How RNAi can be harnessed to modulate gene expression and perform genetic screens, both in cells and in various organisms is also covered. Finally, this course examines the first attempts to use RNAi for the treatment of models of human diseases in experimental animals.
Despite centuries of effort, modern medicine still struggles to find the source of disease and to provide specific treatment without side effects. Both traditional small molecules and protein-based therapeutics have achieved only limited success. What is the next therapeutic frontier? The answer may be RNA interference. In this course, we will focus on the therapeutic potential of RNAi. We will discuss its discovery functions in normal biological processes, utility as an experimental tool, potential for therapeutic use, and pursuit by the biotechnology industry. This course is one of many Advanced Undergraduate Seminars offered by the Biology Department at MIT. These seminars are tailored for students with an interest in using primary research literature to discuss and learn about current biological research in a highly interactive setting. Many instructors of the Advanced Undergraduate Seminars are postdoctoral scientists with a strong interest in teaching.
Students create and decode DNA for mans best friend to observe how variations in DNA lead to the inheritance of different traits. Strips of paper that represent DNA are randomly selected and used to assemble the dog's DNA. Students read the DNA and create a drawing of their pet, and compare it with others in the class to check for similarities and differences.
In this activity, the learner explores various ways in which organisms reproduce. The learner discusses the role that reproduction plays in the cycle of life. By watching short videos and participating in follow-up discussion: 1. They observe that no individual organism lives forever and in order to continue species, organisms must pass their genetic instructions on to the next generation. 2. They learn that organisms reproduce asexually, by dividing and producing two identical copies of themselves. 3. They learn that many plants reproduce sexually, often using complex strategies that have evolved over millions of years. 4. They explore the pros and cons of asexual and sexual reproduction and the reasons both strategies persist.
This video aims to provide an illustrative lesson about the respiratory system in birds and how the adaptations of that system over time have made it different than that of other living creatures, especially mammals. Birds are omnipresent in our lives, and students will come to understand and appreciate the fascinating inner workings of these beautiful creatures. This lesson discusses avian features and differences for 20 to 25 minutes, with approximately 20 minutes of in-class student activities.
How the scientific method is used to ask questions and test explanations.
Students learn that engineers develop different polymers to serve various functions and are introduced to selectively permeable membranes. In a warm-up activity, they construct models of selectively permeable membranes using common household materials, and are reminded about simple diffusion and passive transport. In the main activity, student pairs test and compare the selective permeability of everyday polymer materials engineered for food storage (including plastic grocery bags, zipper sandwich bags, and plastic wrap) with various in-solution molecules (iodine, corn starch, food coloring, marker dye), assess how the polymer’s permeability relates to its function/purpose, and compare that to the permeability of dialysis tubing (which simulates a cell membrane).
General principles of separation by equilibrium and rate processes. Staged cascades. Applications to distillation, absorption, adsorption, and membrane processes. Phase equilibria and role of diffusion. 10.32 will be offered for 6 units starting spring 2004.
Discusses social, ethical and clinical issues associated with the development of new biotechnologies and their integration into clinical practice. Basic scientists, clinicians, bioethicists, and social scientists present on four general topics: changing political economy of biotech research; problems associated with the adaption of new biotechnologies and findings from molecular biology for clinical settings; the ethical issues that emerge from clinical research and clinical use of new technologies; and the broader social ethics associated with investigations of population genetics and social problems. Use of cases and recent literature.
Over the course of three sessions, students act as agricultural engineers and learn about the sustainable pest control technique known as soil biosolarization in which organic waste is used to help eliminate pests during soil solarization instead of using toxic compounds like pesticides and fumigants. Student teams prepare seed starter pots using a source of microorganisms (soil or compost) and “organic waste” (such as oatmeal, a source of carbon for the microorganisms). They plant seeds (representing weed seeds) in the pots, add water and cover them with plastic wrap. At experiment end, students count the weed seedlings and assess the efficacy of the soil biosolarization technique in inactivating the weed seeds. An experiment-guiding handout and pre/post quizzes are provided.
Echolocation is the ability to orient by transmitting sound and receiving echoes from objects in the environment. As a result of a Marco-Polo type activity and subsequent lesson, students learn basic concepts of echolocation. They use these concepts to understand how dolphins use echolocation to locate prey, escape predators, navigate their environment, such as avoiding gillnets set by commercial fishing vessels. Students will also learn that dolphin sounds are vibrations created by vocal organs, and that sound is a type of wave or signal that carries energy and information especially in the dolphin's case. Students will learn that a dolphin's sense of hearing is highly enhanced and better than that of human hearing. Students will also be introduced to the concept of by-catch Students will learn what happens to animals caught through by-catch and why.
An opportunity for graduate study of advanced subjects in Brain and Cognitive Sciences not included in other subject listings. The key topics covered in this course are Bipolar Disorder, Psychosis, Schizophrenia, Genetics of Psychiatric Disorder, DISC1, Ca++ Signaling, Neurogenesis and Depression, Lithium and GSK3 Hypothesis, Behavioral Assays, CREB in Addiction and Depressive Behaviors, The GABA System-I, The GABA System-II, The Glutamate Hypothesis of Schizophrenia, The Dopamine Pathway and DARPP32.
Statistical Physics in Biology is a survey of problems at the interface of statistical physics and modern biology. Topics include: bioinformatic methods for extracting information content of DNA; gene finding, sequence comparison, and phylogenetic trees; physical interactions responsible for structure of biopolymers; DNA double helix, secondary structure of RNA, and elements of protein folding; considerations of force, motion, and packaging; protein motors, membranes. We also look at collective behavior of biological elements, cellular networks, neural networks, and evolution.
This course provides an introduction to the physical chemistry of biological systems. Topics include: connection of macroscopic thermodynamic properties to microscopic molecular properties using statistical mechanics, chemical potentials, equilibrium states, binding cooperativity, behavior of macromolecules in solution and at interfaces, and solvation. Example problems include protein structure, genomic analysis, single molecule biomechanics, and biomaterials.
Have you ever considered going to a pharmacy to order some new cardiomyocytes (heart muscle cells) for your ailing heart? It might sound crazy, but recent developments in stem cell science have made this concept not so futuristic. In this course, we will explore the underlying biology behind the idea of using stem cells to treat disease, specifically analyzing the mechanisms that enable a single genome to encode multiple cell states ranging from neurons to fibroblasts to T cells. Overall, we hope to provide a comprehensive overview of this exciting new field of research and its clinical relevance. This course is one of many Advanced Undergraduate Seminars offered by the Biology Department at MIT. These seminars are tailored for students with an interest in using primary research literature to discuss and learn about current biological research in a highly interactive setting. Many instructors of the Advanced Undergraduate Seminars are postdoctoral scientists with a strong interest in teaching.