Biology 4 focuses on how our current understanding of genetic mechanisms at a molecular level has led to new biological insights and to the development of powerful technologies with far reaching implications for our society. It is the aim of this course to provide a solid understanding of the mechanisms of molecular genetics and to discuss implications of genetic engineering and related technologies to our every day lives. Although the course will focus on the science, we will also consider the ethical, political, human, and economic impact of these technologies. Several guest lecturers will provide personal perspectives based on their experiences. The ultimate goal of the course is to provide you with an understanding of the biology along with the technology so that you can make informed decisions on issues that continually and increasingly arise in our society.

The lectures will draw on material in the textbook, but will also contain material not included in the text – notably the first few lectures. Conversely, the lectures will not cover everything in the textbook. Especially for the discussions involving implications of the technologies, exam material will be drawn mostly from the lectures. Attendance at lectures is therefore very important. The textbook should serve as a reference to the lecture material.

During class, you are encouraged to ask questions. If something is not clear to you, it is likely not to be clear to someone else in the class. If something is said that triggers a question related to a different topic, please ask your question. I would rather spend class time discussing in more depth the topics that you find most interesting than cover additional topics. Class discussion is particularly important to topics such as ethical implications of technology.

Special Note: If you have any suggestions on how to improve the course in any way, please don't hesitate to stop in and share your ideas with me. There are always ways to improve any course and your input is valuable in pointing out how this may be accomplished. Also, if you find something that you like, please tell me about that as well. All the feedback you provide will contribute to improving the course during this term as well as in the future.

Textbook

We will be using "Dealing with Genes: The Language of Heredity" by Berg and Singer, University Science Books, 1992. This book covers basic molecular genetics and genetic engineering. It is available at the Dartmouth Bookstore and through Wheelock Books.

A number of Cell and Molecular Biology textbooks are also being placed on reserve in the Dana library. You can refer to these for more detailed information than what is being covered in class.

Office Hours

I am not setting up any formal office hours. Please feel free to drop in to ask questions at any time. My office is Remsen 210. If I am free when you stop in I will be glad to help you right then. On the other hand, if I am busy, please don't take it personally if I ask you to come back at another time – it just means that I am busy. This "open door" policy will hopefully work best for all of us. If you prefer to set up an appointment, please call (x6-2059) or email to see when I will be available.

Grading and Exams

Your grade will be determined from your performance on the exams and from class participation. Each of the exams will cover material from about one third of the course. The take home final will draw from all aspects of the course, including the guest lectures. Class participation will help boost you up a grade if you are on a border between two grades. The breakdown is as follows:

First Exam	35%	Jan 29 (Wed.), 7 - 9 PM
Second Exam	35%	Feb 12 (Wed.), 7 - 9 PM
Take Home Final or Term Project	30%	TBA

Note that the exams will be given on Wednesday evenings.

Final Exam

The final exam will be a take-home, open book exam. It is due on Monday March 10^th by 5 PM. The questions will be posted on this web site by Monday, March 3^rd. More details to follow...

Term Project

You have an option of either taking the final or handing in a term project. If you plan to do a term project, you need to get a topic approved by me before 5 PM on Monday, February 10th. It is very important that we discuss your topic BEFORE you spend too much time on it. I'd like to make sure that you have chosen a topic that is not too broad or too narrow and make sure that it is an appropriate topic. If you do not have a topic approved by then, you will have to take the final exam. I will be firm in this deadline because I want to make sure you have enough time to actually do the project itself.

About the topic...

The topic should be one that involves biotechnology and its impact on society. The two topics that were used on last year's final exam are good examples (see Some interesting questions with student answers from last year's final exam:). You might start by looking through the NY Times, Newseek, Scientific American, the "Web", or other sources of information for the last 6-12 months. You can also take a look at the OMIM database of genetic disorders.

Your writeup should include a careful and clear explanation of the technology being discussed (this IS a biology course) and any moral and/or ethical consequences that might result from the implementation of such a technology. Approximately 25-50% of the paper should deal with the biotechnology/medical issue - the rest should discuss the ethical, social, or moral issues related to the particular technology.

If you do not find anything that strikes your fancy in the media, but have some ideas of your own, come in and talk to me about them and maybe we can come up with an appropriate topic together. Neither of the two questions on the final last year are real (yet) but nonetheless have interesting aspects to them. Areas that might be of interest include, but are not limited to: agriculture (including pest control), pharmaceuticals, gene therapy, insurance/medical needs, and forensics. I am sure that there are other areas that are ripe for this kind of discussion.

The details...

The term project must be handed in by 5 PM on March 5th. If you can hand it in earlier, that would be appreciated (the thought of grading 97 of these is daunting!). The paper should be a maximum of 8 pages (double-spaced, 12 point Times, one inch margins). If you want to include figures, they should be numbered and placed after the text itself. The bibliography and the figures do not count towards your page limit.

X-hour review sessions are also being held on the Wednesdays of the exams. You should have had a chance to study the material by then and this is an opportunity for you to make sure you are clear on any remaining points that might be confusing to you.

Students with Disabilities

I encourage students with disabilities, including "invisible" disabilities like chronic diseases and learning disabilities, to discuss with me after class or during my office hours appropriate accommodations that might be helpful to them. For information about disabilities, please contact the disabilities coordinator, Nancy Pompian, by email.

Tutoring and Study Groups

Study groups and tutoring are available for this course. If you would like to have a tutor or to become part of a study group, please go to Collis 301 to fill out a form. For more information you can email "academic skills center".

Lecture Schedule

The list that follows provides an outline of the course content. Although specific dates are listed, they should be thought of more as guides for the order of topics presented than as actual scheduled lectures. We will cover the topics in the order presented and will, in general, be close to the listed topics on any given day. However, there will be times that we are ahead and times that we are behind the listed schedule. This is a feature and not a bug in the course! Not every topic can be fit exactly into a two hour chunk of time.

Notice that there are required X-hours scheduled on January 15^th and January 22^nd in which videos will be shown. These two videos illustrate some of the reasons why we need to understand genetic mechanisms and biotechnology in order to be able to make informed decisions as citizens – this is why the course is being offered.

Date	Day	Topic
Jan 7	Tue	Genetics and Inheritance
Jan 9	Thu	The Cell I (The Cell)
Jan 14	Tue	The Cell II (The Cell)
Jan 15	Wed	Required X-hour:Burden of Knowledge (54 mins)
Jan 16	Thu	Chromosomes, Chromatin, DNA Replication and Repair (DNA and Chromosomes)
Jan 21	Tue	Genes and Their Expression (Gene Expression)
Jan22	Wed	Required X-hour: Who Are You? (60 mins)
Jan 23	Thu	Protein Synthesis, Processing and Targeting (Protein Synthesis)

Jan 28	Tue	Prokaryotic Gene Control
Jan29	Wed	Optional X-hour: *Review* for Exam#1
Jan 29	Wed	7:00 PM · Exam#1 (covers material through Jan 23)
Jan 30	Thu	Eukaryotic Gene Control
Feb 4	Tue	Eukaryotic Genes/Genetic Engineering I
Feb 6	Thu	Genetic Engineering II
Feb 11	Tue	Genetic Engineering III

Feb 12	Wed	Optional X-hour: *Review* for Exam#2
Feb 12	Wed	7:00 PM · Exam#2 (covers material from Jan 28 - Feb 11)
Feb 13	Thu	The Impact of Genetics on the United States Health Care System (Dr. C. Everett Koop, Director, Koop Inst.)
Feb 18	Tue	The Potential Use and Misuse of Genes In Promoting Sustainable Resource Utilization (Dr. Lee Lynd, Thayer Engineering)
Feb 20	Thu	AIDS (Dr. Ford von Reyn, Dartmouth Medical School)
	-	video: The Genetic Gamble (58 mins)
Feb 25	Tue	A Brief History of the Human Genome Project (Dr. George Cahill, Biology)
Feb 27	Thu	Biological Clocks (Dr. Jay Dunlap, Biochemistry)
Mar 4	Tue	Agricultural Biotechnology (Dr. Tom Jack, Biology)
Mar 6	Thu	The Immune System and Antibody Production

Course Description