Advanced Molecular Biology (390-DL-20)
Instructors
Thomas A Volpe
Dr. Volpe has been teaching science for over 20 years. His graduate research on cell cycle regulation in budding yeast was performed at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York. After earning his Ph.D. from SUNY Stony Brook in 2000 he stayed on at Cold Spring Harbor as a post-doc studying gene silencing in fission yeast. He moved to the Midwest to continue his research on gene regulation at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. His current interests include developing new approaches to STEM education and promoting science outreach in the Chicago area. Tom has been teaching at the School of Professional studies since 2014.
Michele M McDonough
847/491-5061
Hogan Hall, Room - 2-100
Michele McDonough is the Assistant Chair in the Department of Molecular Biosciences in Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. Professor McDonough joined the NU faculty in 2008 and has been teaching with SPS for the last five years. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Cornell University and earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry while studying signaling pathways regulating cytoskeleton rearrangements at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Meeting Info
Online: Mon 6:15PM - 9:15PM
Overview of class
This course expands on topics introduced in Molecular Biology, including techniques, transcriptional and translational regulation, epigenetics, replication, regulatory RNAs, DNA repair, and genetic engineering. Using primary research articles, a subset of these subjects will be explored in more depth as students discuss the articles, evaluate scientific data, and assess evidence-based conclusions in current research. At the end of this course, students will be able to clearly and concisely describe scientific concepts and determine which molecular biology techniques are most applicable to different research questions.
This course meets for required weekly synchronous sessions.
Registration Requirements
Prerequisite: BIOL_SCI 215 or BIOL_SCI 201
Learning Objectives
Describe scientific concepts with clear and concise language using oral, written and/or visual modes.
Explain the goals, research methods, results and conclusions included in primary research articles.
Evaluate scientific data.
Draw conclusions supported by evidence.
Synthesize information from a wide variety of sources to better understand the key principles of molecular biology.
Weigh the value and usefulness of available information sources.
Determine which molecular biology techniques should be employed to ask specific questions in biology.
Class Materials (Required)
There is no required textbook for this course. All required readings and media will be posted to Canvas.
Class Attributes
Synchronous:Class meets remotely at scheduled time