Lahore University of Management Sciences

Advanced Molecular Biology (BIO516)

Fall 2018

Instructors Shaper Mirza

Room No. 9-318A
Office Hours Monday 4pm-6pm and Wednesday 10-11pm
Email Shaper.Mirza@lums.edu.pk
Telephone 8353
Secretary/TA Iqra Manzoor
TA Office Hours
Course URL (if any)

Course Basics
Credit Hours Three (3)
Lecture(s) Nbr of Lec(s) Per Week Two (2) Duration 75 minutes
Recitation/Lab (per week) Nbr of Lec(s) Per Week None Duration
Tutorial (per week) Nbr of Lec(s) Per Week None Duration

Course Distribution
Core Yes (for graduate students)
Elective No
Open for Student Category Biology majors and minors
Close for Student Category Others

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This is an advanced course designed for incoming graduate students who wish to specialize in molecular biology. The first half of the course deals
with basic concepts in molecular biology while the second half focuses on recent advances in molecular biology. Topics to be covered include DNA
replication and repair, transcription, translation, regulation of gene expression in eukaryotes and prokaryotes.

COURSE PREREQUISITE(S)
Students enrolled in this course are expected to have taken at least introductory level courses in molecular biology, cell biology
or biochemistry

COURSE OBJECTIVES
The course aims to:
Solidify fundamental concepts of molecular biology
Provide mechanistic details of cellular processes at the molecular level
Impart recent developments in molecular biology
Equip students with a holistic view of how different gears of the cellular machinery work together to keep a cell alive

Learning Outcomes
After taking this course students should:
Be knowledgeable about various facets of molecular biology as it stands today
Have a firm grasp of how different cellular processes work and respond to environmental factors at the molecular level
Understand how signal transduction pathways work and how they influence cell structure as well as the overall intracellular
milieu
Develop a firm understanding of how gene expression is regulated in prokaryotes and eukaryotes
Know some of the key questions in molecular and cell biology that remain unanswered
 Lahore University of Management Sciences
Grading Breakup and Policy

Attendance and Participation: 10%

Group discussion: 10%
Midterm Examination: 30%
Quiz: 20%
Final Examination: 30%

Examination Detail

Yes/No: Yes
Midterm Combine/Separate: Combined
Exam Duration: 3 hours
Exam Specifications: Short answer questions and MCQs

Yes/No: Yes
Combine/Separate: Combined
Final Exam
Duration: 3 hours
Exam Specifications: Short answer questions and MCQs
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COURSE OVERVIEW
Recommended Objectives/
Weeks Topics
Readings Application
Critical thinking exercises / logical fallacies
Week 1
Data analysis /experimental controls
Structure of nucleic acids Pg 121-132
Packaging DNA in prokaryotes & Pg 78-96
eukaryotes
Week 2
Gene structure
Promoters and enhancers

DNA replication
Mutability & repair of DNA
Week 3 Homologous & site-specific
recombination

Basal & activated transcription Pg 220-234

Gene regulation (Lac operon) Pg 200-214
Bacteriophage λ Pg 434-438
Signal integration and combinatorial
signal
Paper 2 Belotserkovskaya R, Oh S,
Bondarenko VA, Orphanides G,
Studitsky VM, Reinberg D. FACT
Week 4
facilitates transcription-dependent
nucleosome alteration. Science. 2003
Aug 22;301(5636):1090-3.
See comment Svejstrup JQ.
Transcription. Histones face the
FACT. Science. 2003 Aug
22;301(5636):1053-5.
Quiz
Paper1: Chromatin remodelling: the
industrial revolution of DNA around
Week 5
histones. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2006
Jun;7(6):437-47. Review
Translation Pg 257-289 SM
Week 6 Pg 313-340
Pg 341-369
Non-coding RNA, Pg 509-569 SM
Week 7
Pg 701-727
Catalytic RNA Ribozyme Pg 615-640 SM
Week 8 Quiz

Protein evolution TBA SM

Week 9 Protein folding and Prions
Protein sorting
Quiz TBA SM
Week 10
Membrane Pg 733-744 AJA
Week 11
Week 12 Transport properties of membrane AJA
Week 13 Vesicular Transport AJA
Week 14 Quiz SM
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Textbook(s)/Supplementary Readings

Molecular Biology of the Gene (Watson et al. 2014 - 7th Edition).