BIOL 4503 - Nucleic Acid Biochemistry

Prerequisites: BIOL 2253, BIOL 4461, BIOL 4462, CHEM 2202, CHEM 2204. Examines the biochemistry of nucleic acids, their function as genetic information and control over the expression of that information, nucleic acid-protein interactions. It covers topics such as the structure of nucleic acids, organization of chromatin, DNA methylation, histone modification, prokaryotic and eukaryotic DNA replication, repair, recombination, transposons, transcription and translation processes. Posttranscriptional modifications of RNA and regulation of gene activity in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes are discussed. The principles of basic and novel molecular techniques are also introduced. This course is designed to further develop the students' critical thinking and problem solving skills though reading and evaluating primary papers and working on experimental design. 3 credits.