[bioundgrd] Biology Advanced Undergraduate Seminars-Spring 2012

[Nick Polizzi]

TO: Biology Majors
FROM: H. Robert Horvitz, Professor of Biology
        I am writing to inform you of the exciting Advanced Undergraduate Seminar courses being offered by the Department of Biology for the Spring 2012 term.  A complete list of the courses, instructors, and brief course descriptions are enclosed.  The topics are highly varied and encompass areas of biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, cell biology, developmental biology, evolution, genomics, microbiology, cancer biology, stem cells, human disease 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.
         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.
         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 semester, please check our website (https://biology.mit.edu/undergraduate/course_listings/advanced_undergraduate_seminars) and/or contact the instructors.

Advanced Undergraduate Seminars 2011-2012
Spring 2012
 7.342  Regenerative Medicine: from Bench to Bedside and Bedside to Bench
Instructors: Petra Simic (psimic at mit.edu<mailto:psimic at mit.edu>, 3-0809; laboratory of Leonard Guarente) Jana Hersch (jhersch at alum.mit.edu<mailto:jhersch at alum.mit.edu>, 617-710-3496; laboratory of Peter Reddien)
Spring 2012. Wednesdays, 1 pm – 3 pm. (Class time is flexible.) Room 68-150.
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. In humans, 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 class, we will explore basic mechanisms of how cells in a variety of organisms differentiate into specific tissues in response to biologic stimuli and how these findings have been used to advance regenerative medicine for humans. We will discuss the use of biologic 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 can 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.

7.343 Powerhouse Rules: The Role of Mitochondria in Human Diseases
Instructors:  Dan Ferullo (ferullo at mit.edu<mailto:ferullo at mit.edu>, 3-3745; laboratory of Graham Walker) Asha Jacob (aijacob at mit.edu<mailto:aijacob at mit.edu>, 3-3745; laboratory of Graham Walker)
Spring 2012. Wednesdays, 11 am – 1 pm. (Class time is flexible.) Room 68-150.
In newspapers and textbooks, mitochondria are described as the ”powerhouses” of life – tiny power generators inside living cells that produce virtually all the energy we need to live in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). In addition to supplying cellular energy to eukaryotic cells, mitochondria are involved in a range of other critical processes, such as signaling, cellular differentiation, and cell death, as well as the control of the cell cycle and cell growth. While most of the estimated 1,500 proteins found in a mitochondrion are nuclear-encoded, mitochondria house their own genome, called mtDNA. The human mitochondrial genome contains only 37 genes, of which 13 encode the proteins of the respiratory chain while the remaining encode mitochondrial-specific translational machinery. A variety of clinical disorders involve molecular defects in mitochondrial function. For example, neurodegenerative diseases have been shown to involve excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), a byproduct of mitochondrial respiration, which can lead to damage of DNA, RNA, proteins and lipids. Furthermore, mutations in mitochondrial DNA have been associated with defects in apoptosis, also known as “programmed cell death,” in cancer cells, thereby allowing cells that should die instead to survive and proliferate. In this class, we will learn about the importance of proper normal mitochondrial function in eukaryotic cells. We will also discuss the quality control mechanisms that protect mitochondria from malfunctioning.  Lastly, we will learn about the molecular mechanics of defective mitochondria that have been identified in human diseases.

7.344  The Evolutionary Basis of Human Biology
Instructor: Mansi Srivastava (mansi at wi.mit.edu<mailto:mansi at wi.mit.edu>, 4-2147; laboratory of Peter Reddien)
Spring 2012. Thursdays 1 pm – 3 pm. (Class time is flexible.) Room 68-150.
We are all products of evolution. If we aim to understand human biology – our traits, genes, development, and diseases – we must study our biology in the context of our evolutionary history. For instance, how does the 4% difference between our genome and the chimp genome make us human? The question of what defines us as humans is beginning to be answered in unprecedented ways using technologies developed in the past decade. In this course, we will explore a diverse range of topics, including comparative genomics, evolutionary developmental biology, and population genetics, by discussing primary research papers highlighting fundamental insights that an evolutionary perspective has brought to human biology. We will begin by placing humans in the context of other animals and simpler eukaryotes to establish a framework for the discussions to follow. We will then focus on various aspects of human biology through the lens of evolution. We will examine the past to understand the origins of the molecular underpinnings of key features of human biology. We will also look to the future for potential applications of the evolutionary knowledge we have acquired – for example, can we find better models of human disease given our evolutionary relationships with other organisms?

7.345  Non-coding RNAs: Junk or Critical Regulators in Health and Disease?
Instructors:    Nadya Dimitrova (nadyad at mit.edu<mailto:nadyad at mit.edu>, 3-0263; laboratory of Tyler Jacks) Thales Papagiannakopoulos (thalesp at mit.edu<mailto:thalesp at mit.edu>, 3-0263; laboratory of Tyler Jacks)
Spring 2012. Fridays, 11 am – 1 pm. (Class time is flexible.) Room 68-150.
Every time we scientists think that we have dissected the precise biological nature of a process, an incidental finding, a brilliantly designed experiment, or an unexpected result can turn our world upside down. Non-coding RNAs, discovered through both luck and perseverance, are striking examples of this concept. Until recently thought by many to be cellular “junk” because they do not encode proteins, non-coding RNAs are gaining a growing recognition for their roles in the regulation of a wide scope of processes, ranging from embryogenesis and development to cancer and degenerative disorders. The aim of this class is to introduce the diversity of the RNA world, inhabited by microRNAs, lincRNAs, piRNAs, and many others. Our goal is to glean insights into the functional importance of these RNA molecules and to understand the mechanisms of their action. We will discuss landmark studies that offer a historical perspective as well as read papers from the latest issues of scientific journals to learn about the most recent developments in this rapidly evolving field. We will discover how changes in non-coding RNAs can lead to disease and how we can explore the therapeutic potential of non-coding RNAs.

7.346  Antibiotics, Toxins, Protein Engineering and The Ribosome: Science at the Interface of Biology, Chemistry, Bioengineering, and Medicine

Instructor:  Caroline Koehrer (koehrer at mit.edu<mailto:koehrer at mit.edu>, 3-1870; laboratory of Uttam L. RajBhandary)

Spring 2012. Thursdays, 11 am – 1 pm. (Day and time are flexible.)  Room 68-150.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), in the year 2008, MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus) was responsible for an estimated 90,000 invasive life-threatening infections and more than 15,000 deaths in the U.S. After decades of widespread use, many antibiotics are not as effective as they used to be. Resistance to commonly used antibiotics and the surfacing of multidrug-resistant microbes – so called superbugs – have become one of the world’s most pressing public health problems. Did you know that many of the widely used antibiotics such as tetracyclines, aminoglycosides and macrolides; the lethal poison Ricin, best known as a weapon of bioterrorism; and Diphtheria toxin, the causative agent of a highly contagious bacterial disease – all have one thing in common: they specifically target the cell’s translational apparatus and disrupt protein synthesis. In this course, we will discuss the structure and function of the ribosome and look into the most basic concepts of protein synthesis? We will explore the mechanisms of action of antibiotics and toxins targeting the translational machinery, 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 cell’s 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.
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