BIO327 From gene to function

Do you want to learn how traits are controlled by gene activity? Do you like molecular biology and wish to be proficient in laboratory techniques? If so, BIO327 is the right course for you.

Research is currently in a situation where many candidate genes for various traits have been identified, and the ability to understand and describe their functional role is improving exponentially. BIO327 builds on that by proposing to give students an overview of the theory as well as the bioinformatic and laboratorial techniques necessary to integrate molecular knowledge and unravel gene function. We will use plants as the basic models for the explanations, however, most of the information can also be applied to all other eukaryotes.

The course will be divided into weekly lectures and practical sessions that will include the execution of at least seven laboratory protocols. In each lab session students will work individually and will build data to write a single lab report that will comprise all the 7 sessions which will be delivered at the end of the year. Lab sessions will include phenotype analysis, cloning, expression analysis, protein analysis, gene reporter activity and transformation.

Knowledge

• Students will be acquainted with the major types of genetic regulatory mechanisms from epigenetic up to post-translational regulation.
• Students will be familiarized with key regulators involved in gene function highlighting the different levels of regulation these regulators are subjected to (chromatin structure, miRNAs and transcription factors)
• Students will understand the rationale behind different laboratory techniques and bioinformatic analyses that can be used to describe gene function, such as comparative genomics, forward and reverse genetics, mutant analysis (knock out, knock in) and genotyping, immunolabelling, protein-protein and protein-DNA interactions, expression analysis (qRT-PCR or gene reporter assays) or transient and permanent transformation.

Skills

• Students will have practical experience in various techniques within molecular biology and their importance in biological research
• Students will be able to design a strategy to unravel the gene function of a candidate gene for a specific trait
• Students will be capable to integrate data obtained from distinct sources to make inferences about gene function, e.g. experiments at molecular, cell, tissue or whole individual level, quantitative/population genetic analyses, and different types of -omics.

General competence

• A high level of understanding of gene functions and how to apply them