Genetics 372, Winter 1999
Course Approach
The major themes are - -
(1) Formal analysis and physical analysis of genetic material:
especially, using this information to clone specific genes.
(2) Information storage and retrieval: the genetic code, gene
structure, and gene transcription.
(3) Use of mutations and novel gene constructs to study biological
mechanisms.
In this course you will need to integrate information from three
sources: Lectures, Study Questions, and Reading assignments. Doing
well will require you to spend about 15 hours per week outside
of class, reading and studying.
If you do not feel challenged by the course material, please
let us know. We can guide you to sources of stimulation.
Course Books
Lectures
For two weeks, the class overhead transparencies will be posted--with
annotations--at this web site (go to LECTURE NOTES). Note:
(1). It is unlikely that this annotated Lecture material will
adequately substitute for attending class to participate in thinking
through the material. (2). Annotated notes will be provided only
for the first two weeks; that period will allow you to adjust
to the course's approach.
Study Questions
Assigned Readings
Questions or Exercises accompany most of the reading assignments,
or are inserted within them. These are designed to help you to
work through the reading and to focus on key points in it. The
exams will contain a question, or questions, to test whether the
assigned readings have been read.
Quiz Sections
Section AB - Wednesday 1:30-2:20 HSC J-Wing, J280
Section AC - Tuesday 1:30-2:20 HITCHCOCK 324
Section AD - Wednesday 1:30-2:20 HITCHCOCK 324
Attendance at quiz sections is expected. You will receive help
in integrating the different sources of information in the course
and with some of the more difficult concepts. For topics that
will be emphasized each week see: Quiz Section Topics / Due Dates.
There will also be demonstrations of materials used in molecular
genetics research.
Exams & Grading
Second exam: Friday, February 12, 11:30 - 1:20...100 points
Final exam: Wednesday, March 17, 2:30 - 4:20....200 points
All three exams will be about 2 hours long. However, the
final exam will cover about twice as much new material as the
others, and it has twice the point credit. If staying until
1:20 for the First and Second exams will be a hardship, let me
know right away.
There will be no "extra credits."
Missed Exams: If you must miss an exam for a (non-emergency)
reason that you feel meets the University Handbook guidelines,
it must be discussed and approved by me at least one week ahead
of the exam.
This course is not graded on a curve. I will set grade equivalents
for exam scores after each exam. Classes differ in their abilities.
The average grades in my Genetics 372 class for the past three
years were 2.9, 2.6, and 2.9, and the percentages of 4.0 grades
were 13%, 3% and 6%. Last year about 20% of the students dropped
the class.
Exams will emphasize material since the previous exam. However,
they will necessarily be somewhat cumulative because later material
builds on earlier material in the course. Exam questions will
cover Lecture material, the Reading assignments and the Study
Questions. The exams questions will be similar to those in the
Study Questions (but shorter because of the time constraint) or
they will ask for a brief discussion of concepts or experimental
approaches. Questions to determine whether the assigned readings
have been read wil also be included. Last year's exams (two "midterms"
and a final) are included in the Genetics 372--Book 2.
The exams will be closed book/closed notes.
Re-grading Exams
Textbooks and Other Reading
If you would like a good general genetics text you might consider
buying An Introduction to Genetic Analysis by A.J.
F. Griffiths, J.H. Miller, D.T. Suzuki, R.C. Lewontin & W.M.
Gelbart, Sixth Edition,W.H. Freeman & Co., which is carried
by the University Bookstore as the "not required" text
for this course. Used copies should be available. Genetics
372--Book 1 contains a list of sections in this text which
are relevant to topics covered in the course, as well as a few
other readings in other sources which provide background or additional
information on different topics.
ON RESERVE IN UNDERGRADUATE LIBRARY:
Genetics 372--Books 1 and 2.
An Introduction to Genetic Analysis (above).
Molecular Medicine. R. J. Trent, Churchill Livingstone
(Publishers), 1993. An excellent book on human molecular genetics--from
diseases to forensics.
Genes VI. Benjamin Lewin, Sixth Edition, Oxford University
Press, 1997. A very detailed accounting of molecular processes.
The Metabolic and Molecular Bases of Inherited Disease,
[Chapter 6, "The Human genome project and its impact on the
study of human disease"], 7th ed., McGraw-Hill, 1995, pages
401-436. A summary of human genome mapping and cloning.
See also: Background / Supplemental
Reading.
Talk, Talk, Talk!
Questions to the Teachers
Student Group E-mail
This Student Group E-mail address is meant to be used in three
ways: First, it provides an easy way to discuss material
from the class -- Lectures, Study Questions and Reading. You can
ask questions or present ideas, and receive responses and feedback
from other students. I or one of the TAs will be checking the
messages sent to the Student Group E-mail list but will refrain
from posting there unless, after some time, everyone seems stumped
by a question. Even then, to push you to think, we're more likely
to give hints rather than answers.
The second purpose of this group e-mail is to allow me
to make announcements about the class. That way everyone in the
class with an e-mail address will have immediate notice about
any corrections or last minute news -- assuming that you read
your email often. These announcements also will be made in class
and on the class web site.
Third, you could use the Student Group E-mail to set up
discussion groups to meet _physically_ at specific times and places.
Questions addressed directly to me or to the TAs at our individual
email addresses that seem of general interest, and not of a personal
nature, will be forwarded to the group email address.
If you have a new or non-university address, and would like to
be on the group email list, let me know. If you do not wish to
receive these class emailings, tell me and I will have your name
removed from the recipient list.
Lecture Videos
This course will examine a limited number of topics in molecular
genetics. But, we will do so in some depth. The goal is to help
you see how experimentation leads to understanding. Another way
to say it -- the course emphasizes science as a way of knowing:
asking questions, designing experiments, and deducing "pictures"
of how things work based on the observations.
Two compilations, put together by me, Genetics 372--Book 1
and Genetics 372--Book 2 should be purchased at Professional
Copy 'N' Print , 4200 University Way NE. Copies of these books
will also be put on reserve in the Undergraduate Library. Book
1 contains (a) Organizational information for the course and
(b) Lecture overhead copies. Book 2 contains (a) Study
Questions, (b) Reading assignments, and (c) Last year's exams.
Genetics 372--Book 1 contains paper copies of overhead
transparencies that will be used at each class. You will need
to take notes but, with an outline and drawings in front of you,
you should have time to think through the material with me.
Study Questions sets are included in Genetics 372--Book 2
(available at Professional Copy 'N' Print , 4200 University Way
NE). The goal of these Questions is to stimulate you to think
through concepts and experimental manipulations related to class
material. Some concepts and technical appoaches not given in Lectures
are presented in the Study Questions.
The Assigned Readings are included in Genetics 372--Book 2.
Copies of additional assigned readings may be handed out. The
readings are an important source of learning in the course. They
are designed to reinforce concepts and experimental approaches
presented in Lecture and in the Study Questions. The first two
readings are chapters from textbooks; most of the others are research
articles that have been adapted by me for the use by undergraduates.
(see Assigned Readings, list). See
also:
Background
/
Supplemental Reading.
Section AA - Tuesday 1:30-2:20 HSC J-Wing, J280
First exam: Friday, January 22, 11:30 - 1:20...100 points
Exams will be graded carefully and consistently. If you feel that
an error was made in grading an exam, state your case in writing
and submit it along with your unaltered exam to the Department
of Genetics office, J-205 Health Sciences Center, no later
than one week after the graded exams are made available to
you. I will do all of the regrading. Afterwards, if you wish to
discuss your case, you can always make an appointment with me.
I reserve the right to reassess the grading on the entire exam.
The course reading is in Genetics 372--Book 2 which can
be purchased at Professional Copy 'N' Print , 4200 University
Way NE. There is no other required textbook. General reviews and
overviews on topics covered in lectures can be found in most contemporary
general genetics text books.
The best way to learn is to talk with other people. Ask me questions.
Ask the TAs questions. We will help you understand while pushing
you to think on your own. Discuss the Lecture notes, the Readings,
and the Study Questions with other students. Form a discussion
group that meets regularly. Explaining things to someone else
is the best way to learn.
Questions about course material are best discussed in person with
me or the TAs after class, at office hours, or at Quiz Sections.
Otherwise, the best way to reach me and the TAs is by email
(addresses in the Contacting the Teachers
section).
We will answer e-mail queries as quickly as we can. Questions
that seem of general interest to the class will be emailed to
all students in the class (see Student Group Email -- next
section).
A Student Group E-mail address has been set up for students in
Genetics 372, Winter Quarter, 1999.. The e-mail addresses on the
list are taken from the University of Washington Class List. To
send a message to everyone on this email list, just send the message
as a normal e-mail to: genet372@u.washington.edu
(or
just: genet372@u).
Classes are being videotaped. The tape for a lecture will be available
at the Media Center in the Undergraduate Library, probably the
next day. The videotapes are meant to assist you if you must miss
a class or if you feel you would benifit from hearing and seeing
a topic a second time. The videos will not be a good subtitute
for attending lectures and participating in the class discussions
directly.
| Message Phone | e-Mail address | Professor: Walt Fangman | 543-0334 | fangman@genetics.washington.edu |
Teaching
Assistants: Karen James (Sections AA & AB) | 685-3319 | karenj@u.washington.edu |
Michael McMurray (Sections AC & AD) | 685-6660 | mmcmurra@fhcrc.org |
Office Hours
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Karen James | 10:00-11:00 J-112 HSC* | 4:30-5:30 J-112 HSC | Michael McMurray | 2:30-3:30 J-112 HSC | 10:20-11:20 J-112 HSC |
Walt Fangman | 12:30-1:30 J-182 HSC | 12:30-1:30 J118-HSC |
Any student can come to any of the office hours.
If you are unable to come to any of the office hours because of your employment or class schedules, you can make an appointment with a TA or me. Please let us know why the regualr times cannot work for you.
