MBG * 2040 – Foundations in Molecular Biology and Genetics F,W (4-0) [0.50]

This course will develop an understanding of the fundamental concepts in genetics, including patterns of inheritance, allelic variation, gene interaction, linkage, gene mapping and changes in chromosome structure and number. This will be followed by in-depth discussions on gene structure, replication, transcription, translation, recombination, mutation and DNA repair, and an introduction to gene regulation.

 

*NOTE* – This course is a replacement for MBG*2000 and MBG*2020.





Posted By : AC
Posted On : August 13, 2016

Is the textbook recommended by the student? No
Did the student enjoy the professor? No
Professor : Uniacke & Baker

Comment :
This is a very challenging course. The first half, taught by Dr. Uniacke is very difficult and hard to grasp. He speaks extremely fast during lecture which makes it very difficult to follow. The first half of this course covers genetics (probability of inheriting certain traits, pedigrees, Punnett squares etc..), which I found to be quite challenging. The midterm was the most challenging exam that I have ever had. It was 40 MC questions, with 3 or 4 huge pedigrees that took 5 minutes to complete each. I remember having to guess the last five questions on the midterm because I was running out of time. My suggestion for studying for the midterm would be to review previous midterms to allow yourself to grasp the various concepts that you will be tested on. The second half of the course was quite interesting, Dr. Baker\'s notes were very well organized and he did an excellent job elaborating on the subject matter. It is important for this portion of the course to actually understand the concepts rather than just trying to memorize them. This half of the course is very content heavy so trying to memorize everything will be difficult. Tips for the final exam: use the tutorial assignments as a study tool, a few of the questions on the final were directly from tutorial. Know the replication fork, famous scientists, definitions (nucleosome, histone etc..), Lac-z gene constitutive expression and other various concepts that Dr. Baker stresses in lecture. This course is designed to challenge science students, put in a strong effort and you\'ll achieve success.
Recommendation Rating
Overall Difficulty

Posted By : Anonymous
Posted On : December 7, 2015

Is the textbook recommended by the student? Yes
Did the student enjoy the professor? Yes
Professor : Uniake/Baker

Comment :
The first half (genetics) seemed easy enough, a lot of review, but the midterm was very difficult and long, a lot of people did not finish. The second half is quite dull, a lot of memorization, but testing was fair. I recommend the textbook, its good for practice questions for the first half and reading over concepts to learn them in the second half. I really did not enjoy this course, I found it boring and unnecessarily difficult.
Recommendation Rating
Overall Difficulty

Posted By : Anonymous
Posted On : December 9, 2013

Is the textbook recommended by the student? No
Did the student enjoy the professor? Yes
Professor : Schisler/Mosser

Comment :
The first half was EXTREMELY interesting and Schisler is so charismatic and fun that it made the content and class time so enjoyable! The midterm was extremely fair, but I didn't do as well as I had hoped because there were a few tricks in there, so make sure you know everything!!! But entirely possible to pass! :) The second half was EXTREMELY BORING. Dr. Mosser just did not have the level of enthusiasm Dr. Schisler did, and the content was not interesting either. HOWEVER, he created a package for the final that covered all the material that would be tested, and the final was EXTREMELY fair and very reasonable!
Recommendation Rating
Overall Difficulty

Posted By : Anonymous
Posted On : December 12, 2012

Is the textbook recommended by the student? Yes
Did the student enjoy the professor? No
Professor : Schisler/Baker

Comment :
First half was really simple and quite interesting material, study hard to secure yourself a good mark on the midterm! First half professor (Schisler) was also very good, great at thoroughly explaining the concepts. The tutorials were also really simple, and helped with the grasping of concepts, an easy 12%. The second half was much more difficult, did not enjoy the professor nearly as much, lots of memorization. Even with thorough studying the final was brutal, one of the hardest I've ever written. Make sure you get as many marks as possible on the midterm to ease the grade you need on the final to pass.
Recommendation Rating
Overall Difficulty

Posted By : Anonymous
Posted On : December 10, 2012

Is the textbook recommended by the student? Yes
Did the student enjoy the professor? Yes
Professor : Schisler/Baker

Comment :
First half pretty easy concepts with probability of genotypes/phenotypes and pedigrees, but make sure you know them and know examples for everything. Second half a little bland, just a lot of memorization. Read the textbook chapters assigned even though the final was lecture based. Tutorial assignments weren't too difficult and TA goes through every question before you hand them in so it's basically free 12%.
Recommendation Rating
Overall Difficulty

Posted By : Anonymous
Posted On : January 16, 2012

Is the textbook recommended by the student? Yes
Did the student enjoy the professor? Yes
Professor : Schisler

Comment :
I loved the first half had to do with probability, pedigress etc. Taught by Schisler... second half is very content heavy ..basically memorize everything..I did not enjoy this half that much and felt like the professor crammed way too much information in the end.
Recommendation Rating
Overall Difficulty