<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>TO: Biology Students</div><div>FROM: <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>H. Robert Horvitz, Professor of Biology</div><div> </div><div> I am writing to inform you of the exciting Advanced Undergraduate Seminar courses being offered by the Department of Biology for the Spring 2010 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, stem cells, human disease, biotechnology and therapeutics. 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.</div><div> </div><div> 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.</div><div> </div><p align=""> 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 2010 semester, please check our website (<a href="http://mit.edu/biology/www/undergrad/adv-ugsem.html">http://mit.edu/biology/www/undergrad/adv-ugsem.html</a>) and/or contact the instructors.</p><div apple-content-edited="true"><div><div><div><br></div></div></div></div><p align=""><b></b></p><b><div align="">Advanced Undergraduate Seminars</div><div align="">Spring 2010</div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "> </span></div><div align="">7.340 Regenerative Medicine: from Bench to Bedside</div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; ">Instructor:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Petra Simic (<a href="mailto:psimic@mit.edu">psimic@mit.edu</a>, 3-0809; laboratory of Lenny Guarente)</span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Wednesdays, 1 pm – 3 pm. (Class time is flexible.) Room 68-151.</span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "> </span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; ">Regenerative medicine involves the repair and regeneration of tissues for therapeutic purposes, such as replacing bone marrow in leukemia, cartilage in osteoarthritis or cells of the heart after a heart attack. Tissue regeneration has been of interest throughout history. There is even a Greek myth that describes liver regeneration: Prometheus was chained to a mountain, and his liver was eaten daily by an eagle, regenerated and then eaten again the next day. Today advances in basic and clinical research make tissue regeneration feasible. Tissue is normally generated during fetal development by the differentiation of embryonic stem cells or during postnatal life by a similar differentiation of adult stem cells. Regenerative medicine tries to mimic these processes. In this course, we will explore basic mechanisms of how cells differentiate into specific tissues in response to a variety of biologic signaling molecules. We will discuss the use of such factors for in vitro tissue production. For example, bone morphogenetic proteins can be used in vitro to drive the differentiation of adult stem cells towards bone and heart. We will also study the cellular mechanisms involved in the cloning of animals and how Scottish researchers produced the sheep Dolly using the nucleus of a mammary gland cell from an adult sheep. We will read papers describing organ production, such as the in vitro formation of beating heart cells. We will also consider the molecular bases of cellular and functional changes of different organs that occur in disease and treatments that cause tissue remodeling to correct these changes. We will discuss how studies of the developmental, cellular and molecular biology of regeneration have led to the discovery of new drugs. We will visit the Massachusetts General Hospital to see the patients with regenerated tissues and the Genzyme drug production facility to see how drugs are produced for human use.</span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "> </span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "> </span></div><div align="">7.346 RNAi: A Revolution in Biology and Therapeutics</div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; ">Instructors:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>Allan Gurtan (<a href="mailto:gurtan@mit.edu">gurtan@mit.edu</a>, 3-6458; laboratory of Phillip Sharp)</span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "> Michael Goldberg (<a href="mailto:michaelg@mit.edu">michaelg@mit.edu</a>, 3-6457; laboratory of Phillip Sharp)</span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>Thursdays, 3 pm – 5 pm. (Class time is flexible.) Room 68-151.</span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "> </span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; ">The goal of medicine is to cure disease. Despite centuries of effort, however, modern medicine struggles against the same obstacles today as medicine did in its early days: identifying the cause of a disease and treating it specifically without inducing side effects. While significant advances in medicinal chemistry have been made over many decades, traditional small molecule therapeutics remain unpredictable, often because of a lack of specificity. Similarly, the recent advent of recombinant DNA technology, though ushering in an era of protein-based therapeutics, has achieved only limited success, owing in part to difficulties posed by the large sizes of these macromolecules. What, then, is the next therapeutic frontier? The answer may lie in RNA interference (RNAi), a fundamental biological process discovered only a decade ago and recognized soon afterwards with the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. RNAi is mediated by small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), which direct the efficient degradation of specific messenger RNAs, thereby inhibiting the synthesis of specific proteins. Since its discovery, RNAi has revolutionized basic science research by allowing analyses of the genes and proteins required for cellular processes. RNAi can be used to test candidate disease target genes in cellular and animal models of human disease. Additionally, the race is now on to develop siRNAs as a class of therapeutic agents. In principle, any gene known to play an essential role in a disease pathway can be targeted by RNAi. In this course, we will discuss the studies that have led to the current excitement concerning the therapeutic potential of this new field. Specifically, we will consider various aspects of RNAi: its discovery, how it functions in normal biological processes, its utility as an experimental tool, its potential for therapeutic use, and how RNAi therapeutics are being pursued by the biotechnology industry.</span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "> </span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "> </span></div><div align="">7.347 Antibiotics, Toxins, and Protein Engineering: Science at the Interface of Biology, Chemistry, Bioengineering, and Medicine</div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; ">Instructor:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>Caroline Koehrer (<a href="mailto:koehrer@mit.edu">koehrer@mit.edu</a>, 3-1870; laboratory of Uttam L. RajBhandary)</span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>Thursdays, 1 – 3 pm. (Class time is flexible.) Room 68-151.</span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "> </span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; ">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 – all three have one thing in common: they 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.</span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "> </span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "> </span></div><div align="">7.348 Non-malignant Tumor Cells – A Broader Approach to Cancer Research</div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; ">Instructors:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>Julia Rastelli (<a href="mailto:rastelli@wi.mit.edu">rastelli@wi.mit.edu</a>, 8-5173; laboratory of Bob Weinberg)</span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>Asaf Spiegel (<a href="mailto:spiegel@wi.mit.edu">spiegel@wi.mit.edu</a>, 8-5173; laboratory of Bob Weinberg)</span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>Wednesdays, 3-5 pm. (Class time is flexible.) Room 68-151.</span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "> </span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; ">Despite advances in cancer research, the treatment of most cancers remains insufficient, rendering the disease a leading cause of death in the western world. Tumors are complex tissues that consist not only of malignant cells but also of a variety of non-malignant stromal cells, such as blood vessel cells, immune cells, and fibroblasts. What is the role of stromal cells in the tumor, and what is the normal physiological role of such cells in the human body? Where do stromal cells come from, and what triggers their recruitment into tumors? How do stromal cells affect the fundamental steps of tumor progression, such as angiogenesis (blood vessel formation) and metastasis (spreading of tumor cells to distant tissues)? In this course we will discuss and critically evaluate scientific papers that attempt to answer these questions in one of the most exciting and rapidly evolving fields in cancer research – the tumor (micro)environment. We will also discuss how non-malignant tumor cells might be used as new targets for cancer therapy as a complement to conventional therapy based on targeting only the malignant cells. </span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "> </span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "> </span></div><div align="">7.349 From Molecules to Behavior: Synaptic Neurophysiology</div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; ">Instructor:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>Alex Chubykin (<a href="mailto:chubykin@mit.edu">chubykin@mit.edu</a>; 46-3301; laboratory of Mark Bear)</span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>Wednesdays, 11 am – 1 pm. (Class time is flexible.) Room 68-151.</span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "> </span></div><div align=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; ">The brain is the most sophisticated computational machine known. Vastly different from conventional man-made computers, the brain is massively parallel, self-organizing, and plastic - it can change its own components and rewire itself to a new configuration necessary for a new task. Synapses, the connections between nerve cells, are the fundamental computational units of the brain. Like transistors in a computer, synapses perform complex computations and connect the brain’s non-linear processing elements (neurons) into a functional circuit. Understanding the role of synapses in neuronal computation is essential to understanding how the brain works. In this course students will be introduced to cutting-edge research in the field of synaptic neurophysiology. The course will cover such topics as synapse formation, synaptic function, synaptic plasticity, the roles of synapses in higher cognitive processes and how synaptic dysfunction can lead to disease. This research requires a wide range of techniques, including molecular genetics, biochemistry, electrophysiology and optical imaging, and examines mechanisms involved in the development, physiology, and pathophysiology of the nervous system. We will read both classical research papers addressing the basics of synaptic physiology and the latest research papers addressing the role of synapses in the function of neuronal circuits. Students will learn to critically analyze scientific papers, to apply the scientific method in neuroscience research, to evaluate and interpret data and to design experiments.</span></div><div align=""> </div><div align=""> </div></b></body></html>