This course is designed to teach students the various steps involved in analyzing next-generation sequencing data for gene expression profiling and polymorphism identification and analyses. The class will follow a workshop setting with a combination of lectures, paper discussions, and instructor and student led programming sessions.
This hands-on training course emphasizes the use of general computing tools to work more effectively in the biological sciences. It integrates a broad range of powerful and flexible tools that are applicable to ecologists, molecular biologists, physiologists, and anyone who has struggled analyzing large or complex data sets. Text file manipulation with regular expressions, basic shell scripting, programming in Python and R, interaction with remote devices, and basic graphical concepts will be reviewed.
A survey of plants and plant communities of the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain. Skills in plant and mushroom identification, specimen preparation, and research databases are emphasized. Most classes are field trips. Prerequisites: BIOL 291 must be passed with a grade of C or higher.
An analysis of development in animals. Lectures will explore experimental approaches to the study of gametogenesis, fertilization, cleavage and morphogenesis. Laboratories will emphasize the morphological features of the developing vertebrate embryo. Prerequisites: BIOL 240 or BIOL 250 and BIOL 241 or BIOL 251 must be passed with a grade of C or higher. Pre- or corequisite: CHEM 211.
Required of all graduate students admitted to Biology programs. The course will introduce students to the responsible conduct of science and scientific research.
This course will focus on understanding brain structure as well as the morphology and function of the central nervous system in general. Fundamental processes such as neuron morphogenesis, guidance, polarity, migration, and growth cone motility will be emphasized. The cellular and molecular basis of neurological disorders also will be discussed. Prerequisites: BIOL 250 or BIOL 293 must be passed with a grade of 'C' or higher or permission of instructor.
This course is available only to students in the Honors College. An introduction to the process of science, evolutionary biology, ecology, and the basic biology of viruses, prokaryotes, and eukaryotes. Students required to take BIOL 138N cannot earn credit for BIOL 105N, BIOL 106N, BIOL 110N, BIOL 112N, or BIOL 117N. Prerequisite: Placement into ENGL 110C and qualifying Math SAT/ACT score, or qualifying score on the Math placement test, or completion of MATH 102M or higher, enrollment in the Honors College, and BIOL 136N. Pre- or corequisite: BIOL 139N.
An evolutionary survey of vascular plant families and the principles and methodologies that define them; lab emphasis is placed on recognition and skills of identification. A lab and field intensive hands-on course. Prerequisites: A botany course.
An introduction to the basic mechanisms by which different animals function. How organisms acquire and use energy, regulate their internal environment, circulate and exchange gases and wastes, receive and conduct information about their environment, and move and use muscles will be some of the topics covered. Emphasis will be on how organisms make changes in these basic mechanisms to deal with different environmental conditions.