INTRODUCTION TO MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

This course has the goal to provide students with the notions necessary to understand the following aspects:

GENETICS:
1. Mendel's laws (Mendelian genetics)and exceptions to Mendel's laws (non-Mendelian genetics): Hereditary characters.
2. The theory of evolution: From Lamarck to Darwin.
3. Historical perspective on the discovery of DNA: From transmission of characters to the concept of GENE.
4. The dogma of biology: DNA->RNA->PROTEIN.
5. The cell: Organelles, compartments, functions.

DNA
1. Chemistry: Nitrogenous bases.
2. Structure: Double helix.
3. The genetic code: DNA is read in triplets.
4. DNA replication.
5. Techniques for DNA purification: Large scale and small scale DNA preparations.
6. Techniques to amplify DNA: PCR.
7. Gene cloning: The restriction and modification enzymes.

RNA
1. Chemistry: Nitrogenous bases.
2. Structure: Single helix.
3. RNA transcription: Regulation of gene expression.
4. Techniques for RNA purification and conversion to cDNA.
5. Techniques for analysis of gene expression of a gene of interest and omics: RT-PCR, microarrays, NGS.

PROTEIN
1. Chemistry: Amino-acids.
2. Structure: Primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structure.
3. The process of translation: From RNA to protein synthesis.
4. Techniques of analysis of proteins: Western blotting, Coomassie, mass spectrometry.

This course includes LABORATORY experience with the preparation of DNA, RNA, and proteins, expression of target genes in cells and analysis of protein function in cultured cells.