Death of A Cell: Objectives
Prerequisite knowledge
The student should enter this course with some biology background. In particular, the student should have a basic understanding of cell biology and an acquaintance with workings of DNA.
- The student should know that genes are instructions encoded in DNA.
- The student should understand how mutations in DNA can affect the expression of the gene products.
- The student should know how to formulate explanations by using logic and evidence.
- The student should recognize the cumulative nature of scientific evidence.
- The student should be able investigate science-based societal issues by researching the literature, analyzing data, and communicating findings.
Motivation and Goals
The student should be able to understand and answer the following questions:
- What is apoptosis? How is it different from cell death by some other means? Why Apoptosis?
- What organisms have cells are capable of apoptosis? Prokaryotes? Eukaryotes?
- What triggers apoptosis? What inhibits apoptosis?
- What are the genes involved?
- What are the steps? In what order do they occur?
- Is it it the same or different in other species? Is it the same or different in other tissues or organs, for that matter?
- What happens when the genes involved mutate?
- What about apoptosis in cancer? Is it mutated or turned off?