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<div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">TO: Biology Students</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">FROM: <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>H. Robert Horvitz, Professor of Biology</font></div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"> </font></p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"> I am writing to inform you of the exciting Advanced Undergraduate Seminar courses being offered by the Department of Biology for the Spring 2009 term. A complete list of the courses, instructors, and brief course descriptions are enclosed. The topics are highly varied and encompass areas of biochemistry, molecular biology, microbiology, cancer biology, neurobiology, developmental biology, biotechnology and human disease. A student can take any number of these courses. The courses, which generally involve four to eight students, are for 6 units, graded pass/fail, and meet two hours each week. The focus is on reading and discussing the primary research literature. Most courses have two short written assignments. Some include field trips to MIT research laboratories or to commercial sites using technologies discussed in the courses. The level of each course will be tailored to the students who enroll. Because of the small size of these courses, we expect students not to drop these courses once they have begun.</font></div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"> </font></p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"> These courses offer a number of special features: small class size, a high degree of personal contact with the instructor, a focus on the primary research literature, and an opportunity to discuss current problems in biology interactively. I believe these courses greatly enrich an undergraduate’s experience. There are limited alternative opportunities available to undergraduates to interact closely with instructors who are experienced full-time researchers; to learn to read, understand, and analyze primary research papers; and to engage in the type of stimulating discussions and debates that characterize how science is really done. Most advanced MIT undergraduates (generally juniors and seniors) have been sufficiently exposed to the basics of biology to be able to read the primary literature and appreciate both methodologies and cutting-edge advances. These courses have two goals: first, to expose students to the kind of thinking that is central to contemporary biological research; and second, to impart specific knowledge in particular areas of biology. These courses are designed to be intellectually stimulating and also to provide excellent preparation for a variety of future careers that require an understanding both of what modern biology is and of how it is done. Students who have taken Advanced Undergraduate Seminars in the past (different specific courses, same general design) have been enormously enthusiastic about their experiences.</font></div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"> </font></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"> I am writing to you before Registration Day to encourage you to consider enrolling in one of these seminar courses. Please feel free to contact any of the instructors to learn more about their courses. To learn more about the Advanced Undergraduate Seminars to be offered during the Spring 2009 semester, please check our website (<a href="http://mit.edu/biology/www/undergrad/adv-ugsem.html"><font color="#0000f3" style="color: #0000f3"><u>http://mit.edu/biology/www/undergrad/adv-ugsem.html</u></font></a>) and/or contact the instructors.</font></p><br><div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><div><div><br></div></div><div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 16.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><b>Spring 2009</b></font></p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><b>7.344 Directed Evolution: Engineering Biocatalysts</b></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Instructor: Kerry Love (<a href="mailto:kerryluv@mit.edu"><font color="#0000f0" style="color: #0000f0"><u>kerryluv@mit.edu</u></font></a>; 4-0727; Laboratory of Hidde Ploegh)</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Spring 2009. Thursdays, 11 am – 1 pm. (Class time is flexible.) Room 68-151.</font></div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"> </font></p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Enzymes, nature’s catalysts, are remarkable biomolecules capable of extraordinary specificity and selectivity. These characteristics have made enzymes particularly attractive as an alternative to conventional catalysts in numerous industrial processes. Oftentimes, however, the properties of an enzyme do not meet the criteria of the application of interest. While biological evolution of an enzyme’s properties can take several million years, directed evolution in the laboratory is a powerful and rapid alternative for tailoring enzymes for a particular purpose. Directed evolution has been used to produce enzymes with many unique properties, including altered substrate specificity, thermal stability, organic solvent resistance and enantioselectivity – selectivity of one stereoisomer over another. One example is the improvement of the catalytic efficiency of glutaryl acylase, an important enzyme in the manufacturing of semi-synthetic penicillin and cephalosporin. The technique of directed evolution comprises two essential steps: mutagenesis of the gene encoding the enzyme to produce a library of variants, and selection of a particular variant based on its desirable catalytic properties. In this course, we will examine what kinds of enzymes are worth evolving and the strategies used for library generation and enzyme selection. We will focus on those enzymes that are used in the synthesis of drugs and in biotechnological applications.</font></div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"> </font></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"> </font></p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><b>7.345 Antibiotics, Toxins, and Protein Engineering</b></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Instructors: Caroline Koehrer (<a href="mailto:koehrer@mit.edu"><font color="#0000f0" style="color: #0000f0"><u>koehrer@mit.edu</u></font></a>, 3-1870; laboratory of Uttam RajBhandary)</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Mandana Sassanfar (<a href="mailto:mandana@mit.edu"><font color="#0000f0" style="color: #0000f0"><u>mandana@mit.edu</u></font></a>, 452-4371; Education Office)</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Spring 2009. Thursday, 1 – 3 pm. (Class time is flexible.) Room 68-151.</font></div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"> The lethal poison Ricin, best known as a weapon of bioterrorism; Diphtheria toxin, the causative agent of a highly contagious bacterial disease; and the widely used antibiotic tetracycline have one thing in common: they all specifically target the cell’s translational apparatus and disrupt protein synthesis. In this course, we will explore the mechanisms of action of toxins and antibiotics, their roles in everyday medicine and the emergence and spread of drug resistance. We will also discuss the identification of new drug targets and how we can manipulate the protein synthesis machinery to provide powerful tools for protein engineering and potential new treatments for patients with devastating diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy.</font></p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><b>7.346 Cancer Development, Progression and Metastasis – Is There a Cure in Sight?</b></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Instructors: Christine Chaffer (<a href="mailto:chaffer@wi.mit.edu"><font color="#0000f0" style="color: #0000f0"><u>chaffer@wi.mit.edu</u></font></a>, 8-5715; Laboratory of Bob Weinberg)</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Christina Scheel (<a href="mailto:scheel@wi.mit.edu">scheel@wi.mit.edu</a>, 8-5176; Laboratory of Bob Weinberg)</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Spring 2009. Tuesdays, 3-5 pm. (Class time is flexible.) Room 68-151.</font></div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"> </font></p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Despite decades of concentrated research effort, cancer remains one of the leading causes of death in the Western world. Generic agents, such as chemotherapeutics that target and kill proliferating cells, are still the most effective treatment for cancer patients. In the case of relapse, however, cancer cells usually become resistant to chemotherapy. To date, even with new targeted therapeutic approaches, advanced forms of the disease are generally incurable. Is there a cure in sight? Why does successful cancer therapy remain elusive? The answers lie, in part, in the remarkable complexity and diversity of the disease. In this course, while learning to critically evaluate the primary research literature, we will discuss the fundamentals and latest discoveries in cancer research to gain an understanding of the hallmarks of cancer development and progression. We will explore the diversity in biological properties between and within cancer subtypes. We will discover that multiple mechanisms are involved in the transition from early-stage disease, usually consisting of discrete tumors, to late-stage disease in which the cancer cells have spread to distant organs. The course will provide an overview of the current field of cancer biology, with analyses of the latest experimental techniques and disease models, and will introduce some of the most exciting and promising research areas of the field.</font></div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"> </font></p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; color: rgb(0, 0, 223); min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><b>7.347 From Molecules to Behavior: Cell Biology of the Synapse</b></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Instructors: Alex Chubykin (<a href="mailto:chubykin@mit.edu"><font color="#0000f0" style="color: #0000f0"><u>chubykin@mit.edu</u></font></a>; 46-3301; laboratory of Mark Bear)</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Jason Shepherd (<a href="mailto:jshephe@mit.edu"><font color="#0000f0" style="color: #0000f0"><u>jshephe@mit.edu</u></font></a>; 46-3301; laboratory of Mark Bear)</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Spring 2009. Wednesdays, 1 pm - 3 pm. (Class time is flexible.) Room 68-151.</font></div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"> </font></p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">The brain has an amazing capacity to store, retrieve and use information about past experiences. Understanding the mechanisms that underlie information storage in the brain spans many disciplines in neuroscience, from molecules to behavior. Neurons and their connections, known as synapses, are the fundamental units of information storage and processing in the brain. This course will introduce students to current cutting-edge research concerning the cell biology of neurons and synapses. The course will span many aspects of synaptic transmission, development and plasticity. Specific topics will include: (1) the molecular mechanisms of synapse formation during development and how abnormalities in synapse formation can result in cognitive disorders, such as autism and mental retardation; (2) the molecular mechanisms that regulate the functions of neurotransmitter receptors; (3) the physiology of synaptic transmission, including the generation and propagation of action potentials; (4) mechanisms of synaptic plasticity and the relationship of synaptic plasticity to learning and memory; and (5) how synaptic function is affected in neurological disorders, using Alzheimer's Disease as an example. We will discuss the latest tools that neuroscientists use to study synapses, including optical and genetic manipulations of synaptic transmission. The course will rely on reading and analyzing original research papers from the scientific literature and will involve small discussion groups. Students will learn how experiments are designed, how data are obtained and how scientists evaluate and interpret these data.</font></div></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"> </div><br></body></html>