BIOLOGY 315H

Advanced Introduction to Genetics (Honors)

_________________________________________________________________________

Semester:

Fall 2010

Professors:

Moon Draper
Office hours:
Location:
Phone:
Email:

Wed. 2:30-4:00, or by appointment

Neuro-Molecular Sciences (NMS) 4.306
471-3912
maturin@mail.utexas.edu

Marty Shankland
Office hours:
Location:
Phone:
Email:

Tuesday 2:00-3:30, or by appointment

Patterson (PAT) 602
232-1892
hastypig@mail.utexas.edu

Teaching Assistant:

There will be one teaching assistant conducting the 4 discussion sections

Textbooks:

A subscription to BioPortal, which includes the Ebooks:

"Life, the Science of Biology"; Sadava et al.
"Concepts of Genetics"; Pierce et al.
Hard copies of this book exist, but only the EBooks/BioPortal
is required.

Lectures:

Monday/Wednesday/Friday, 1:00-2:00
WEL 2.308

Discussion Sections:

T 8:00 9:00 Garrison (GAR) 2.112

T 10:00 11:00 Sanchez (SZB) 380
Th 1:00 2:00 Calhoun (CAL) 221
Th 4:00 5:00 Garrison (GAR) 0.132

Final Exam:

Tuesday, December 14, 9:0012:00 pm

Course description
Biology 315H is the first course in a two-semester honors sequence that integrates a sophisticated survey of
introductory biology with a rigorous analysis of upper-division genetics. The purpose of this course sequence is to
provide incoming UT freshmen with an accelerated pathway for getting into upper-division biology coursework.
Registration is restricted to students who have scored a 4 or 5 on the Advancement Placement Biology exam and/or
been accepted into the Deans Scholars honors program. You may not register for this sequence if you have already
completed a majors biology class at UT or any other college.
It is assumed that students who successfully complete Biology 315H (grade of C or better) in the fall will enroll in the
Biology 325H the following spring. Successful completion of Biology 325H meets the prerequisite for virtually all of
UTs other upper-division biology classes.
Exams and grading
There will be a total of 400 points awarded for classwork. The general breakdown will be:
Final examination 160
Midterm exams (2) 200
In-class exercises 40
400
There will be three scheduled midterm examinations. Each midterm will primarily test the material covered since the
previous exam. Midterms will have a maximum score of 100 points, and only the two best scores will be counted
towards the final grade, i.e. the lowest of your three midterm exam grades will be dropped. There will be no makeup of
midterm exams; if a midterm exam is missed, that one will be dropped. If you miss a second midterm exam, you will
receive a 0 unless you can provide documented evidence that absence was beyond your reasonable control, e.g. you
were ill or there was a death in your family.
The final exam will count for 160 points. This exam will be cumulative, and will integrate the material covered during
the entire semester. Both finals and midterms will consist of problem solving and essay questions, and will emphasize
conceptual understanding rather than rote memorization of the textbook. We will post examples of past exams on the
class website.
In addition to the exams, a total of 40 points will come from the best 8 scores of 10 quizzes or other in-class exercises
administered during discussion sections or lecture time. These exercises will focus on knowledge from the assigned
readings and recent lectures. Some exercises will be announced in advance; others will not. If a graded exercise is held
during discussion section, you may complete that exercise for credit in any of the four discussion sections; however,
you may take it for credit only once. There will be no makeup of quizzes or exercises unless your absence was excused
in advance.
Final grades will be determined by cumulative points for the entire semester. We plan to use the grading scale:
A
A
B+
B
B
C+
C
C
D+
D
D
F

332400 points
320331 points
308319 points
292307 points
280291 points
268279 points
252267 points
240251 points
228239 points
212227 points
200-211 points
! 199 points

(83-100%)
(80-82.9%)
(77-79.9%)
(73-76.9%)
(70-72.9%)
(67-69.9%)
(63-66.9%)
(60-62.9%)
(57-59.9%)
(53-56.9%)
(50-52.9%)

Tardiness for lectures and exams

This is a large campus, however it is in everyones best interest for all students to arrive in class in a timely fashion.
If you must arrive late to class, please sit down quietly towards the back of the classroom.
Please note that it is your responsibility to arrive at exams on time. Students who arrive late will not be given additional
time, and anyone arriving after other students have finished and left the classroom will not be allowed to take the exam.
Religious holidays and other excused absences
The University of Texas at Austin academic calender recognizes some but not all religious holidays. If you observe a
religious holiday that conflicts with class or examination schedules, you will be excused and allowed to make up any
work that was missed. Note that it is the policy of UT that a student must notify each instructor at least fourteen days
prior to any classes scheduled on the dates he or she will be absent to observe a religious holiday. Any other excused
absences will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and will also require fourteen days prior notice.
Dropping a course as a Freshman
If you find that your preparation for this honors course is not allowing you to maintain a satisfactory grade level (in
particular, if you are on the C/D borderline or below), we ask that you come to see the instructors as early as possible.
There are options still available to you after the last drop date, but it is critical that this be addressed as early in the
semester as possible. The General Information for the drop policies can be found online at:
http://registrar.utexas.edu/catalogs/gi07-08/ch04/ch04b.html#Adding-and-Dropping-Courses
Students with Disabilities
The University of Texas at Austin provides, upon request, appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students
with disabilities. For further information, contact:
Office of the Dean of Students
471-6259
471-6441 (TTY)
Academic dishonesty
Cheating will not be tolerated, and will result at minimum in the recommendation of the grade F being assigned for the
course. Additional information on the definition of academic dishonesty, including plagiarism, can be found at
http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/.

BIOLOGY 315H - Advanced Introduction to Genetics

(Fall, 2010)
Transmission Genetics
08/25 Introduction
08/27 Mitosis and meiosis
08/30 Mendelian genetics
09/01 Probability theory and familial genetics
09/03 Sex determination
Labor Day
09/08 Sex-linked inheritance
09/10 From genotype to phenotype
09/13 Gene interactions, Part I
09/15 Gene interactions, Part II
09/17 Chromosome abnormalities
09/20 EXAM 1 (Monday)

No reading.
Pierce, Ch 2-2.3.2
Pierce, Ch 3-3.2.2.1 & 3.2.3-3.3.3
Pierce, Ch 3.2.2.2-3.2.2.6, 3.3.4-3.3.5, &
6-6.3.2
Pierce, Ch 4-4.1.5.6
Pierce, Ch 4.2-4.2.7.2 & 6.3.3-6.3.5
Pierce, Ch 5-5.4.2 & 5.8.1
Pierce, Ch 5.5-5.5.4
Pierce, Ch 5.6-5.6.3 & 3.4-3.4.1
Pierce, Ch 9-9.3.5 & 9.4.4

Molecular Biology
09/22 Nucleic Acids and genes
09/24 Transcription
09/27 Translation
09/29 Prokaryotic Gene Expression
10/01 Eukaryotic Gene Expression
10/04 DNA Replication, Mutation and Repair
10/06 Recombination and gene conversion
10/08 Chromosome mapping
10/11 EXAM 2 (Monday)

Sadava, Ch 4.1-4.1.3, Pierce, 11.1

Pierce, Ch 13.1-13.2.3; Sadava, Ch 14.3-4
Pierce, Ch 15.2-15.3.4; Sadava, Ch 14.5
Pierce, Ch 16.3.1-16.3.4 & 16.3.5
Pierce, Ch 17.2.2-17.2.4
Pierce, Ch 12.2-12.3; Sadava, Ch 15.1
Sadava, Ch 11.3-11.4;
Pierce, Ch 7.2.7-7.2.9 & 7.3

Cell Biology
10/13 Introduction to cell biology
10/15 Protein structure and function
10/18 Protein sorting and secretion
10/20 Energy flow within cells
10/22 Cell motility
10/25 Cell membranes
10/27 Electrical properties of membranes
10/29 Cell adhesion and intercellular junctions
11/01 Receptors and cell communication
11/03 Signal transduction: kinase pathways
11/05 Signal transduction: second messengers
11/08 EXAM 3 (Monday)

Sadava, Ch 5-5.3.2
Sadava, Ch 3-3.2.9, 14.6.2, & 15.3.1.
Sadava, Ch 5.3.3-5.3.7 & 14.6.1
Sadava, Ch 8-8.3.3
Sadava, Ch 5.3.8, 48-48.1.2, & Fig. 48.6
Sadava, Ch 6-6.1.4 & 6.3-6.4.2
Sadava, Ch 45.2-45.2.7
Sadava, Ch 6.2-6.2.3 & 40.1.3-40.1.4
Sadava, Ch 7-7.2.1 & 6.5-6.53
Sadava, Ch 7.2.2-7.4.3
same as previous lecture

Molecular Genetics
11/10 Advanced Gene Regulation
11/12 Epigenetics
11/15 Viral Gene Expression: HIV
11/17 Transposable Elements
11/19 DNA Restriction, cloning
11/22 Polymerase Chain Reaction
11/24 Nucleic Acid Hybridization
Thanksgiving Holiday
11/29 DNA Libraries
12/01 Transgenics
12/03 Genomics
12/14

9-12 PM Final Exam (Tuesday)

Pierce, Ch 17.4-17.6
Sadava, Ch 16.4-16.4.4
Pierce, Figure 8.9 & Ch 8.2.6-8.2.7
Pierce, Ch 8.1.3 & 8.1.5 & 8.1.7
Pierce, Ch 19.2-19.2.4.3 & Handout
Pierce, Ch 19.2.5-19.2.6
Pierce, Ch 19.2.3 & Ch 19.3.2
Pierce, Ch 19.3.1-19.3.1.3
Pierce, Ch 19.5-19.5.6
Pierce, Ch 19.3.5