David Marcey 
307 Higley Hall
pbx 5392 or 5396
e-mail: marcey
Office (lab) Hours: T &Th, 2:00-4:30 PM

about the course

learning goals/assessment

course outline

linked resources

Subject Material

This advanced* course concerns the mechanisms responsible for building multicellular organisms. The continuum of development and aging will be examined at the molecular and cellular levels. Particular attention will be devoted to the experimental basis for current models of these processes. The importance of the modification of developmental programs in the course of multicellular evolution will be also be studied. Students will read original research literature as well as standard texts. Prerequisites: BIOL 6, 7, and 8.

* knowledge of material covered in Biology 7, Introduction to Genetics and Development, is assumed. See DM if you require remedial reading/tutoring on this material.

Course Format

The material presented in lecture will be complementary to assigned reading, and will emphasize the experimental and historical basis for concepts described in your reading. In addition to traditional lectures, discussions will be encouraged and expected. You are expected to have completed assignments prior to coming to class, in preparation for discussion. You will be assigned small discussion group membership (A-F) for the leadership of some in-class discussions (see grading and course outline, below).

Text
Principles of Development, Wolpert, et al.
 

Additional Reading
Journal articles will be on reserve in the 
Higley Reading Room (211)

Supplemental Learning Material

You will also be provided additional learning aids that are accessible on the WWW or on the local Kenyon network. Many slides and Web pages containing material presented in class can be found online or on the network at p:\data\biology\biol21. There are links on this page to useful supplemental information. See linked resources, below. 

Assignments & Grading

Your grade will be determined by a 1000 point scale: 

• Six, 100 point quizzes = 600 points (in class, 15 min. each) 
• One 200 point take home final examination (due 5/15, 6:30 PM) 
• 100 points of class participation - points awarded for attendance, quality and leadership of discussion 
• 100 points for Class Project - a world wide web site on a specific topic in Developmental Biology 

Quizzes will be designed to test student understanding of concepts, methodologies, and experiments. The quizzes will primarily be multiple choice. You may discard your one lowest quiz grade and substitute your class project grade in its stead (this will be done automatically if your project grade is higher than any one of your quiz grades). The final exam will test your understanding of the course material by asking you several integrative essay questions. 

Class participation includes attendance as well as regular responses in class. It also includes participating in group-led discsussions on research literature. See outline, below, to see discussion dates. For more information, including group membership, see the group-led discussion page.

The WWW site construction assignment involves building a web site in HTML (HyperText Markup Language). This can be considered a web-based term paper, but you should take advantage of the web to provide appropriate supplementary visualization (graphics, ect.). Avoid very broad subjects, e.g., "dorsal-ventral axis formation". Rather, you should choose a very specific topic for your project, e.g. "the role of beta catenin in vertebrate dorsal-ventral axis formation". You must submit a topic proposal for approval in the fourth week of the semester (see outline, below). You must use original research literature as the major sources for your project. We will schedule several common hour periods for instruction on web page construction, including the acquisition and processing of images. More information on this assignment can be found on the WWW project page.

Academic Honesty and Class Conduct

It is your responsibility to know the guidelines of the college regarding academic honesty and class conduct. READ THE SECTION ON ACADEMIC HONESTY in the 1998-1999 COURSE OF STUDY to familiarize yourself with the college policies, as this course will follow these guidelines. Please be reminded that if you use the words of another person, whether or not you scientifically cite the source in your text, you also must use quotes around those words. It is important to learn to use your own writing to present ideas and syntheses of ideas. 
 
 

Learning Disabilities:

If you have a disability and therefore may have need for some type of accommodation(s) in order to participate fully in this class, please feel free to discuss your concerns in private with me AND BE SURE TO CONTACT Dean Martindell at PBX 5145 or via e-mail at MARTINDELLJ. 
 

Goals

Assignments & Assessment

To learn about

• the mechanisms that govern the formation of multicellular organisms 
• the central, integrative role of developmental biology in modern bioscience 
• the evolutionary implications of developmental mechanisms 
• experimental approaches (both classical and modern) to the study of multicellular development 

reading, course lectures, discussions, quizzes, 
final examination, web project 

class discussions on journal articles, web project

group-led class discussions

web project 

final exam and class discussions 

Slideshows of In-Class Graphics

A Dictionary of Cell Biology

Movies of Zebrafish Morphogenesis

DB Virtual Library

Zygote - by Scott Gilbert

The Homeobox Page

Homeobox Genes Database

The Visible (human) Embryo

The Online Macromolecular Museum

Interactive Drosophila Anatomy

 Movie of 3-D reconstruction of Xenopus oocyte: acetylated microtubules

 Interesting Protein Families

The Interactive Fly  (Evolutionarily Conserved Developmental Pathways)

The DB Project

Wasserman's DB Page

Amphibian Embryology Tutorial

WWW project page information

Movie Page I

Movie Page II: FLY MORPH-O-GENESIS

Journal Article 6 - Miller and McClay, (1997)

Journal Article 7 - Winklbauer and Keller (1996)

Journal Article 8 - Noramly, et al. (1996)

take home final examination

more coming soon....