Undergraduate - UnitGEN3040 - Advanced molecular genetics and its applications

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2013 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

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Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Science
Organisational Unit	School of Biological Sciences
Offered	Clayton First semester 2013 (Day) Sunway Second semester 2013 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Professor John Bowman (Clayton); Dr Song Beng Kah (Sunway)

Synopsis

Building on basic knowledge gained from completing second year Genetics units at Monash, or equivalent, this unit will incorporate recent information gained from international genome analysis projects involving a wide range of species, ranging from unicellular to multicellular organisms, including humans and close relatives and also incorporating recent advances relating to agriculturally important animals and plants. Relevant advances relating to the regulation of gene activity and its ability to control and improve growth, development, health and performance at both the cellular and the whole organism level will be examined. Such information will increasingly be important in the 21st century for sustainable development of human civilization in concert with a healthy planetary environment. Students will acquire relevant laboratory skills involving advanced techniques in molecular genetics, use of genes in biotechnology, genomic analysis, computer assisted genetic database analysis and bioinformatics.

Outcomes

On completion of this unit students will be able to:

Demonstrate understanding of recent advances in genetic knowledge gained from international genome analysis projects involving a wide range of species, ranging from unicellular to multicellular organisms;

Explain the main mechanisms by which genes are regulated by environmental and/or developmental cues;

Describe the use of molecular genetics to undertake beneficial research to solve problems of importance in health, industry, and global agriculture;

Demonstrate high-level skills in data collection, analysis and interpretation, and data presentation, and apply these in the preparation and presentation of scientific reports;

Critically evaluate and summarise new discoveries from the scientific literature in genomics and molecular biology.

Assessment

End of semester written examination: 60%
Mid-semester test: 10%
Practical reports, genetics problem solving exercises, independent genetic database analysis or critical literature review: 30%

Chief examiner(s)

Professor John Bowman

Contact hours

5-6 hours per week (two lectures and one lecture/tutorial session per week for 12 weeks; one 3-hour practical session per week for 9 weeks)

Prerequisites

12 points of level two GEN, MOL, BMS or BTH units. Strongly recommended: GEN2052 or MOL2022.