Lecture, chapter 3 - Mendelian genetics

Today we covered most of chapter 3 in the textbook, after having our first quiz of the quarter.

We had an overview of how Mendel's experiments lead him to propose his two famous principles:

• Principle of segregation
• Principle of independent assortment

As part of the story of Mendel's progress we talked about the reception his research had when he puylished it (1866), when and why his work was redicovered by other European geneticists at about 1900, and when his results were linked to the recent (at the time) discoveries of mitosis, meiosis, and chromosomes.
We covered monohybid and dihybrid crosses, concepts of dominance and recesiveness, and phenotypic proportions resulting from each one of these.
We also started covering complex phenotypes and the phenomena that explains their patterns under the light of Mendelian inheritance.

For Monday: Read chapter 4 in the textbook...!

----------------------

Lecture, chapter 1: A human perspective on genetics

...or a perspective on human genetics.

We covered material in chapter 1 of the textbook, dealing with some general issues of the development and importance of genetics, and the impact this science has had on society in the past and the impact it has now.

The power point presentation has already been uploaded to the p-drive and the WebCT site.

Reminders:

• Chapter 2 will NOT be covered in lecture, but you must read it. It will be quizzed and included in exams 1 and 3.
• We will start with chapter 3 (Mendelian genetics) tomorrow.
  
• You MUST have a 'Blue Book' ($0.60 at the ONU bookstore) to be able to answer your quizzes.

----------------------

Lab 01: Family pedigree analysis

On Tuesday, March 10, we had the first lab of the quarter, in which we did a very basic family pedigree analysis of some traits that show a Mendelian mode of inheritance, and assigned topics for the bioethics projects.

Bioethics project assignments

We talked about the bioethics projects before the actual lab exercise. Students picked their teams (four members per team) and proposed topics they would like to work with. We discussed briefly the reasons for which people thought certain topics would be interesting, and based on such reasons and after weighting preferences topics were assigned. The following topics were picked:

• Privacy of genetic information
• Embryonic stem cell research
• Prenatal screening
• Designer babies
• Gene therapy

We then discussed some of the requirements for both, the bioethics papers and the debates, as stipulated on the lab guide for week 9.


Family pedigree analysis

Following lab guide No 1 we performed a series of family pedigree analyses for some human traits (hitchhiker's thumb, free vs. attached earlobe, tongue rolling, and hand folding or clasping). Each student surveyed such traits in their immediate family in order to perform the analyses.

Then we performed a couple od simulations (gametogenesis and fertilziation) to illustrate the Mendelian principles of segregation and independent assortment.


Fire alarm and building evacuation

It was an eventful lab. In the middle of it a fire alarm (cause still unknown to the instructor) forced us to evacuate the buiklding and stay out for about half hour. Fortunately we were able to resume activities soon enough.

----------------------

Spring Quarter 2009

Today we started the spring quarter of 2008-09.

Students introduced themselves, provided information about their motivation for taking this class and their expectations. We went over the syllabi (lecture and lab), discussed grading and attendance policies, lecture and lab mechanics, and mentioned areas upon which students would like to focus towards the end of the quarter.

Some of the areas in which students expressed interest are:

• Genetic diseases
• Speciation
• Population genetics
• Genetics and cancer
• Biotechnology
• Human evolution

I'll do my best to meet expectations regarding these topics.

Reminders:

• Get an examination book ("Blue Book") at the ONU bookstore! You will need it for your quizzes, and it's very cheap (under $1.00). You must bring your Blue Book to every lecture.
• The syllabi have been already posted to the p-drive (under 'a-cordoba') and on WebCT.
• Tomorrow we are having our first lab. Think of topics you would like to develop during your bioethics projects, and have ready the information you need to do family pedigrees (see below)

Information you must collect from your immediate family (siblings, parents, and, ideally, aunts, uncles, and grandparents):

• Can you roll your tongue? (yes/no)
• Do you have hitchhiker's thumb? (yes/no)
• What type of earlobe do you have? (free/attached)
• How do you fold (or clasp) your hands? (right thumb over left or viceversa)
  

Also, don't forget to printout the lab guide. It will be posted to the WebCT site and later on to the p-drive as well.

----------------------