Foundations Modern Biology I

1.0 - 5.0 credits

A graduate level lecture course that will provide a basic foundation of core concepts and experimental design and interpretation for all graduate students in the biomedical sciences. The course will cover key concepts, critical paradigms, and experimental approaches in five areas: protein structure and biochemistry; nucleic acid biochemistry and gene expression, cellular organization, migration and dynamics; signal transduction; and mitochondria and metabolism. In addition, weekly discussion sessions will include interactive journal club discussions of primary literature and problem sets incorporating data interpretation and experimental design. These workshops discussions will be in small groups of 8-12 students and will be led by graduate TAs and junior scientists. IND 431 is a modular course designed to build on concepts covered in the individual modules as the course proceeds. Students may, with permission of the course director, register for any number of individual modules, earning 1 credit per module. The design of IND 431 envisions that students will be best served by taking all modules. However, based on the needs of specific graduate programs, students after consultation with their program director may opt to take individual modules.