APPLIED BIOLOGY

BIO/13 - 9 CFU - 1° Semester

Teaching Staff

MARINA SCALIA


Learning Objectives

The course aims to give the students an integrated study of cellular processes that regulate the activity of living organisms with particolar regard to basic mechanisms involved in the following processes: duplication and transmission of genetic information at both the cellular and molecular level. At the end of the course the students shoul be able to demonstate that they have acquired the advanced applications of biotechnology and molecular genetics, necessary for the understanding of normal and pathological phenomena.



Detailed Course Content

Introduction to the Biology. Cell theory: cell and organisms. Structure and function of the proteins. The enzymes. Structural and functional organization of prokaryotic cells ( Bacteria and Archea). Structural and functional organization of eukaryotic cells : Cell membrane, Nucleus, Smooth and Rough reticulum, , the ribosomes, the lysosomes, the peroxisomes, the mitochondria, the Golgi apparatus, the cytoskeleton.Viruses.The nuclear genome: structure and function.The DNA in prokaryotes: the bacterial chromosome.The DNA structure: the double helix of Watson and Crick. Chemical composition of DNA. Chargaff Rules. The DNA in eukaryotes: Chromatin and chromosomes. The central dogma of molecular biology. From genotype to phenotype. Phenotype and environment. Cell proliferation: the cycle and related control mechanisms. DNA replication in prokaryotic and eukaryotes: molecular mechanisms. Replication of telomeres: Telomerase. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR): technology and its implications for Medicine. Classification and structure of eukaryotic genes (function promoters. exons, introns)and prokaryotic genes (structure operons) . The process of transcription in prokaryotes and eukaryotes: synthesis and processing of RNA [mRNA and non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) including the miRNA]. Regulation of gene expression in eukaryotes. The Genetic Code. Protein synthesis. Genetic mutations and epigenetic modifications of DNA. The human karyotype: normal and pathological karyotypes. Numeric chromosomal abnormalities: trisomies and monosomies. Mitotic and meiotic non-disjunction. Mosaicism. Cell division: binary fission, mitosis and meiosis. Male and female gametogenesis. Mode of transmission of genetic traits in humans. Mendelian Genetics. The limits of the Mendelian model. The Genome Projects. Role of Computational Biology and Bioinformatics in Medicine. Genetic diseases of Homo sapiens. Cell membranes: structure and function. The mechanisms of transport across the membrane: simple and facilitated diffusion. The active transport. Signal Transduction. The Hormones.The G-coupled receptors. Role of AMPc . Mechanisms of interaction between cells: CAM (Cadherins and Integrins). The neoplastic phenotype: Oncogenes and Tumor suppressor genes.



Textbook Information

1. De Leo, Fasano and Ginelli Biology and Genetics, Ed. Edises

2. Alberts, Bray, Hopkin, Johnson ..., Essential Molecular Biology of the Cell, Ed Zanichelli

3.Gerald Karp, Cell and Molecular Biology, Ed. Edises

4. M. R.Cummings, Heritage, Ed. Edises

OF NOTE: It is important to use the most recent edition of each textbook .




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