BIOL3800/7800 –Molecular Cell Biology

Tuesday/Thursday 8:100-9:15

215 General Classroom Building

computer number 1303

WELCOME to Molecular Cell Biology! You are entering a course that will give an a strong appreciation of many of the things that cells can do! It’s really amazing what goes on in a cell. By learning these processes and molecules, we will also learn how mistakes and defects lead to human disease. This is an upper division course, required for the major so be prepared to work hard! : )

Instructor: Therese M. Poole Phone: (404) 651-0921

Office: 439A Kell Hall email: biotmp@panther.gsu.edu

Office Hours: Monday 10-10:45 am, Thursday 3-4 pm or by appointment in 439A Kell

Textbook: “The World of the Cell” by Becker, et al. Fourth edition. Reading is very strong encouraged. Its best to read ahead of classtime but be sure to read all of the assigned material. Another good book is the “Cell and Molecular Biology” by Karp.

WebCT: WebCT has been set up for this course. You will be required to participate in the bulletin board discussion on the webCT (described below). To learn how to login to webCT and to obtain a passwork please go to help.student.gsu.edu

Grading: Grades will be based on 4 exams, 4 assignments and bulletin board participation, and one writing assignment. You will also be required to keep a journal (see below). Each exam is worth 100 pts. Each assignment will be worth 20 pts. The writing assignment and the webCT will each be worth 10 points.

If you are in the 7800 section of the course, then please see me about the additional assignment. Your grade will be calculated out of a possible 550 points but will be based like below.

There is a total of 500 points (4 exams = 400 pts., 4 assignments = 80 pts., webCT = 10 pts. and writing assignment = 10 pts.). Grades will be based on the typical:

>89.5% 448-500 pts. A

79.5-89.4% 398-447 pts. B

69.5-79.4% 348-397 pts. C

59.5%-69.4% 298-347 pts. D

< 59.5% < 298 F

I will not deviate from this scale (so don’t ask). I do not give any extra credit – there are plenty of non-exam assignments for you to do (and me to grade). If necessary, individual exams will be curved.

Makeup exams will only be given for extreme emergencies (you or an immediately family member is in the hospital, death of a family member, jury duty) You MUST call my voicemail within 24 hours of the exam time to notify me or you will receive a zero (0) for the exam. You MUST have written (believable) documentation of your emergency or you will receive a zero (0) for the exam.

Journal – Each student will keep a journal throughout the semester. During the second week of class, students will choose a cell type. At various points during the semester, students will be given questions to answer about their “cell”. The answers to these questions along with any other insightful information should be contained in the journal. The journal will be turned in along with each exam and will count for 5/100 pts (1/2 of a grade) on the exam.

Class policies:

All students should obey common rules of courtesy including: sitting quietly and entering unobtrusively if you are late to class, not talking in class, turning off cell phones and pagers, etc.

Makeup exams will be given only for emergency reasons: you or an immediate family member is in the hospital, a death in the family, an accident on the way to the exam, etc. You MUST call me within 24 hours of the exam and you MUST have documentation otherwise you will earn a zero (0) for that exam.

Cheating is strictly prohibited! All students should be aware of Georgia State’s policy on Academic Honesty which can be found in the Student Handbook (p. 54) or on the web at http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwfhb/fhb.html (see section 409).

All students are encouraged to form a study group and to work together on assignments and activites

Any student missing class or part of class is responsible for finding out what they missed, including announcements and course material from ANOTHER student (not from Dr. Poole!) I will not return calls or emails about missed material or information on the syllabus.

All students are responsible for knowing the syllabus

This syllabus is a general plan for the course, deviations may be necessary.

BIOL3800 Fall 2001

Date	Experiment/Assignment Due
8/21	Introduction to cell Theory – Chapter 1
8/23	Cell Chemistry – molecules found in cells – Chapter 2
8/28	Macromolecules – Chapter 3
8/30	Bioenergetics – Chapter 5
9/4	Enzymes – structure, function, kinetics – Chapter 6 HOMEWORK 1 DUE TODAY
9/6	Plasma Membrane Chapter 7
9/11	EXAM 1
9/13	Cytoskeleton - Chapter 22
9/18	Cell movement and motility - Chapter 23
9/20	Motility, cont. – Chapter 23
9/25	Intracellular Trafficking – Chapter 12
9/27	Intracellular Trafficking – Chapter 12
10/2	Extracellular matrix – Chapter 11 HOMEWORK 2 DUE TODAY
10/4	Transport across Membranes – Chapter 8
10/8	EXAM 2
10/11	Genes – what are they and what is their function? – Chapter 16
10/12	Expression of genes into protein – Chapter 19
10/16	LAST DAY TO WITHDRAW WITH A "W"
10/18	Expression of genes into protein – Chapter 20
10/23	DNA structure and function – Chapter 16 WRITING ASSIGNMENT DUE TODAY
10/25	DNA replication and repair – Chapter 16
10/30	DNA techniques – restriction enzymes and PCR – Chapter 16 HOMEWORK 3 DUE TODAY
11/1	Catch-up day
11/6	EXAM 3
11/8	Mitosis – Chapter 17
11/13	Cell cycle regulation – Chapter 17
11/15		Signal transduction – Chapter 10
11/20	Signal transduction – Chapter 10
11/27	Cancer - a cellular disease – Chapter 17 HOMEWORK 4 DUE TODAY
11/29	Applications to Biomedicine ALL BULLETIN BOARD POSTINGS BY 5PM TODAY

FINAL EXAM: Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2001 at 8:00 AM.