9797238 - THE CELL: MOLECULES AND PROCESSES
Modulo Applied biology I

By the end of the course, students are expected to:

·        have a knowledge and understanding of general biology in terms of (i) application of the scientific method to solve biological questions; (ii) evolution of biological entities (from viral to prokaryotic and eukaryotic cellular organizations); (iii) main differences between eukaryotic and prokaryotic cellular organizations with particular emphasis on eukaryotic cells;

·        use a technical language related to biological issues during their presentation;

·        be proficient in interconnecting biological structures and functions;

·        The origin of life and cell theory

o   The scientific method

o   The discovery and advances of microscopy

o   The prebiotic word (RNA word)

o   The theory of evolution by natural selection

o   Differences between homology and analogy

o   The emerging properties

o   The relationship between structure and function

·        The emergence of modern cell biology

o   The advent of cell biology

o   The advent of molecular biology

o   The critical importance of technology and use of model organisms

·        The chemistry of the cell

o   The main chemical elements of the cells

o   Water and its properties

o   Description of the main functional chemical groups with a “biological” meaning

·        The main classes of biomolecules and their importance in biology

o   Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins, Nucleic Acids

·        Viruses, viroids and prions

o   Prokaryotic viruses (hint of their classification and life cycle)

o   Eukaryotic viruses (hint of their classification and life cycle)

·        Cells and organelles

o   Structure and function of prokaryotic cells (Bacteria and Archaea): plasma membrane, cell wall, nucleoid

                  ribosomes, mitochondria (the endosymbiotic theory), Golgi complex, o   lysosomes, peroxisomes, cytoskeleton (microfilaments, microtubules, intermediate filaments)

·        Hints of bioenergetics and enzymes

·        Chromatin and chromosomes

·        Cell membrane: structure, function, and chemistry

o   Cell membrane as a permeability barrier

o   Glucidic, lipidic and protein components of the cell membrane – the biological importance of asymmetric structure of cell membranes

o   The involvement of cell membrane in inflammation

·        Transport across membranes

o   Simple diffusion and osmosis

o   Facilitated diffusion

·        Radin and Lodolce. Becker’s world of the cell. Tenth edition, 2022, Global Edition

·        Alberts, Hopkin, Johnson, Morgan, Raff, Roberts, Walter. Essential cell biology. Fifth edition, 2019, Norton

The assessment of acquired knowledge is conducted by an oral examination. The grade is expressed on a scale of thirty, up to a maximum of 30/30 cum laude (with honors). The final grade is determined by the weighted average of the scores obtained in the course subjects.

The oral examination consists of an interview during which questions will cover at least three different topics from the course curriculum. The assessments aim to evaluate: i) the level of knowledge in the disciplines; ii) the ability to apply this knowledge to solve specific problems related to the disciplines (autonomous problem-solving); iii) clarity of expression; iv) proficiency in medical-scientific language. The assessment of learning can also be conducted remotely if the conditions necessitate it.

For the assignment of the final grade, the following parameters will be considered:

·        Score 29-30 with honors: The student demonstrates an in-depth knowledge of the topics, promptly and correctly integrates and critically analyzes presented situations, independently solving even highly complex problems. They possess excellent communication skills and command medical-scientific language proficiently.

·        Score 26-28: The student has a good understanding of the topics, is able to integrate and critically and logically analyze presented situations, can fairly independently solve complex problems, and presents topics clearly using appropriate medical-scientific language.

·        Score 22-25: The student has a fair understanding of the topics, although it may be limited to the main areas. They can integrate and critically analyze presented situations, although not always in a linear fashion, and present topics fairly clearly with moderate language proficiency.

·        Score 18-21: The student has minimal knowledge of the topics, possesses modest ability to integrate and critically analyze presented situations, and presents topics sufficiently clearly, although their language proficiency may be underdeveloped.

·        The principles of cell theory

·        Describe the main differences between eukaryotic and prokaryotic cell organizations

·        Describe how does a microscope work

·        Describe the structure and function of plasma membrane

·        Describe the structure and function of cytoskeleton

·        Describe how does primary active transport across plasma membrane happen

·        What is chromatin