7.016
Introductory Biology
Discusses core principles including: chemical bonding and molecular interactions, protein structure/function and basic thermodynamics, how information flows in the cell, genetics, tools for studying and manipulating genetic material, sequencing, cell biology, evolution, and how the body fights off harmful disease-causing agents. 7.016 expands upon the core principles to include specializations such as fluorescent cell imaging, neuroscience, cell cycle, cancer, stem cells, and aging. Enrollment limited to seating capacity of classroom. Admittance may be controlled by lottery.
Fall 2018
Topics
- Welcome; Introduction and course organization
- Chemical bonding and molecular interactions; Lipids and membranes
- Structures of amino acids, peptides and proteins
- Enzymes and metabolism
- Carbohydrates and glycoproteins
- Nucleic acids
- Replication
- Transcription
- Chromatin remodeling and splicing
- Translation
- Cells, the simplest functional units
- Genetics 1—Cell division and segregating genetic material
- Genetics 2—Rules of inheritance
- Genetics 3—Linkage, crossing over
- Genetics 4—The power of model organisms in biological discovery
- Recombinant DNA, cloning, and editing
- Genomes and DNA sequencing
- SNPs and human genetics
- Cell trafficking and protein localization
- Cell signaling 1—Overview
- Cell signaling 2—Examples
- Neurons, action potential, and optogenetics
- Cell cycle and checkpoints
- Stem cells, apoptosis, and tissue homeostasis
- Cancer 1
- Cancer 2
- Visualizing life—Dyes and stains
- Visualizing life—Fluorescent proteins
- Cell imaging techniques
- Immunology 1—Diversity, specificity, and B cells
- Immunology 2—Memory, T cells, and autoimmunity
- Infectious disease, viruses, and bacteria
- Bacteria and antibiotic resistance
- Viruses and anti-viral resistance
- Reproductive cloning and embryonic stem cells
- “In the news”
Readings
- All readings are from the required course textbook:
- Sadava, D. E., D. M. Hillis, et al. Life: The Science of Biology . 11th ed. W. H. Freeman, 2016. ISBN: 9781319145446.
- LEC #: 2 · TOPICS: Chemical bonding and molecular interactions; Lipids and membranes · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 2: Sections 2.1–2.4 Chapter 3: Sections 3.1 & 3.4 Chapter 6: Section 6.1
- LEC #: 3 · TOPICS: Structures of amino acids, peptides and proteins · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 3: Section 3.2
- LEC #: 4 · TOPICS: Enzymes and metabolism · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 8: Sections 8.1–8.5 (plus Ch. 8 recap)
- LEC #: 5 · TOPICS: Carbohydrates and glycoproteins · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 3: Section 3.3
- LEC #: 6 · TOPICS: Nucleic acids · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 4: Sections 4.1 & 4.4 Chapter 13: Sections 13.1–13.2
- LEC #: 7 · TOPICS: Replication · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 13: Sections 13.3–13.4 (plus Ch. 13 recap)
- LEC #: 8 · TOPICS: Transcription · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 14: Sections 14.1–14.3
- LEC #: 9 · TOPICS: Chromatin remodeling and splicing · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 14: Section 14.4
- LEC #: 10 · TOPICS: Translation · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 14: Section 14.5 (plus Ch. 14 recap)
- LEC #: 11 · TOPICS: Cells, the simplest functional units · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 5: Sections 5.1–5.3
- LEC #: 12 · TOPICS: Genetics 1—Cell division and segregating genetic material · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 11: Sections 11.1 & 11.3–11.5
- LEC #: 13 · TOPICS: Genetics 2—Rules of inheritance · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 12: Section 12.1
- LEC #: 14 · TOPICS: Genetics 3—Linkage, crossing over · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 12: Sections 12.4 & 12.5
- LEC #: 15 · TOPICS: Genetics 4—The power of model organisms in biological discovery · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 12: Sections 12.4 & 12.5
- LEC #: 16 · TOPICS: Recombinant DNA, cloning, and editing · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 18: Sections 18.1–18.3 & 18.5–18.6
- LEC #: 17 · TOPICS: Genomes and DNA sequencing · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 13: Section 13.5 Chapter 17: Sections 17.1–17.5
- LEC #: 18 · TOPICS: SNPs and human genetics · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 12: Section 12.2
- LEC #: 19 · TOPICS: Cell trafficking and protein localization · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 14: Section 14.6
- LEC #: 20 · TOPICS: Cell signaling 1—Overview · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 7: Sections 7.1–7.5 (plus recap)
- LEC #: 21 · TOPICS: Cell signaling 2—Examples · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 7 continued
- LEC #: 22 · TOPICS: Neurons, action potential, and optogenetics · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 45: Sections 42.1–42.6 Chapter 46: Section 46.1
- LEC #: 23 · TOPICS: Cell cycle and checkpoints · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 11: Sections 11.1–11.5
- LEC #: 24 · TOPICS: Stem cells, apoptosis, and tissue homeostasis · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 11: Section 11.6 Chapter 19: Sections 19.1 & 19.5
- LEC #: 25 · TOPICS: Cancer 1 · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 11: Section 11.7
- LEC #: 26 · TOPICS: Cancer 2 · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 11: Section 11.7 continued
- LEC #: 27 · TOPICS: Visualizing life—Dyes and stains · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 5: Section 5.1
- LEC #: 30 · TOPICS: Immunology 1—Diversity, specificity, and B cells · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 42: Sections 42.1–42.6
- LEC #: 31 · TOPICS: Immunology 2—Memory, T cells, and autoimmunity · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 42: Sections 42.1–42.6
- LEC #: 35 · TOPICS: Reproductive cloning and embryonic stem cells · READINGs FROM TEXTBOOK: Chapter 11: Section 11.6 Chapter 19: Sections 19.1 & 19.5
- The required textbook is: Sadava, D. E., D. M. Hillis, et al. Life: The Science of Biology . 11th ed. W. H. Freeman, 2016. ISBN: 9781319145446.
Prerequisites & course information
Prereq: None U (Spring) 5-0-7 units. BIOLOGY Credit cannot also be received for 7.012 , 7.014 , 7.015 , ES.7012 , ES.7016
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Fall 2018
- MIT OCW calendar ↗
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.