BIOLOGY AND GENETICS
APPLIED BIOLOGY (3 credits) | MEDICAL GENETICS (B) (1 credits) |
MEDICAL GENETICS (C) (2 credits) |
Learning outcomes of the course unit
Theaimof the course is to give the student the opportunity to learn thebasicprinciple ofbiology and genetic in orfer to understand thatthebiological research is the foundation of biomedical sciences.
Prerequisites
Basic Knowledges of Chemistry and Physiscs
Course contents summary
.Structure andfunctionsof biological macromolecules: carbohydrates,lipids, proteinsandnucleic acids.
Level of biological organization, and the relationships between structure and function
Diversityandunityoflife: the levels of organization and the cell asthe basicuniyoflife.The cellular theory: prokaryotic andeukaryoticcells,unicellularandmulticellular organisms. Theconceptofspecies. Evolutionarythinking: Darwin andtheevolutionarytheory. Proof ofevolution:importanceof taxonomy(classification of organisms),comparativeanatomyanddevelopmentalbiology (comparative embriology)for theunderstandingofevolution.The concepts of analogy, omology,ontogenesisandphylogenesis.
Origin of life:
earlyearthoxygenlessatmosphere and abioticsynthesis ofbiomolecules.Evolutionof prokaryoticcell: autotroph andheterotrophcells. Evolutionofeukaryotic cell:endosymbiontic originofmitochondria andchloroplastsorganelles. Theorigin ofautotrophmetabolism and itsconsequence onthe evolution oflife onearth.
Evolution and biology of the cell (with particolar emphasis on the relationships between structure and function)
Membranestructureandfunction.Membrane receptors. Theendoplasmicreticulum. TheGolgiapparatus.Lysosomes. Ribosomes.Mitochondria andchloroplasts.Nucleus:geneticmaterials, cromosomes.Cell reproduction:the eukaryoticcellcycle:Mitosis andmeiosis.
Evolutionary Biology
Thetheoryofevolution: genetic variabilityand natural selection asthecoremechanismsof evolution. Sexualselection. Mechanisms ofevolutionandproof ofevolution. Populationgenetic, the Hrdy-Weinbergequilibrium andthesynthetic modern theoryofevolution(neodarwinism).Natural selectionandmutation asprincipalmechanisms of evolution,geneticdriftandmicroevolutionaryprocessess.Molecularevolution.Macroevolution:speciation (or theorigin ofspecies).Phylogenesis ofVertebrates.Evolution of man.
Animal Biology( with particular emphasis to vertebrates)
Asexualandsexualreproduction.Evolution and adaptive significanceofsexuality.Meiosisand sexual lifecycles. Gameteformation:spermatogenesis andoogenesis.Fertilisation andembryonicand fetaldevelopment (see conceptof omology,ontogenesisandphylogenesis ).Evoltionofneuroendocrinesystem:endocrineglands, hormones asmessenger,steroidand peptidehormonemechanisms of action.Relationshipbetweenhypotalamus, pituitaryandbody target cell and regulation ofhormoneproduction andrelease.Hormonal regulationof reproductiveactivity ofvertebrateswithparticular attention toPrimates and hencehuman species.
Behavioral biology
Instinct,learningandmemory. Neuroendocrine control ofbehavior. Geneticand evolutionofbehavior.Social behavior:aggression, sexualselectionandreproductivestrategies. Relationshipbetween culturalandbiologicalevolution.
Genetics: the study of mechanism of heredity of characters
Mendel’sexperimentalapproach:thediscovery of the first(segregation)andsecond(independentassortment)lawof heredity and the developmentofthe theory ofheredity. Thetest-cross.The concept of gene,allele,genotype andphenotype. Dominant,recessivealleles,incompletedominance andcodominant alleles.Multiplealleles.Pleiotropy.Epistasis. Polygenicinheritance. Sex linkedgenesandchromosomaldetermination of sex. Thechromosomal theoryofinheritance.Geneticsignificance of mitosis andmeiosis.
The molecular basis of inheritance: the chemical nature of the gene.
ExperimentalevidencethatDNAis the genetic material. The discoveryof themolecularstructure ofDNA orthe Watson and Crick doublehelix.DNAreplication in prokaryoticandeukaryotic organisms.
How genes work: from gene to protein
ThemRNAandthegenetic code. Transcription andtranslationofgeneticinstrction.Ribosomes and tRNA. ProteinsynthesisinProkaryoticand eukaryoticorganisms. Exons and introns andsplicingofRNA. Thecontrol of genesexpression in prokaryotes: theoperon.Eukaryoticgene expres
Recommended readings
ibri di Testo consigliati:
Solomon E.P., Berg L.R e Martin D.W..:FONDAMENTI di BIOLOGIA,Edises.;
oppure
: Campbell N.A. “PRINCIPI DI BIOLOGIA” Zanichelli
Palanza P. e Parmigiani S. 'Percorso didattico di Biologia' Libreria Santa Croce (Parma)
PalanzaP e Parmigiani S. 'Biologia e Genetica del Comportamento' Libreria Santa Croce (Parma
Teaching methods
Calass lectures open to debate
Examinations: writtent tests plus an oral examination.