Instructor: Danh Nguyen, Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine
Description: The transformation of biological investigations from "genes" to "genomics" is an important change in research perspective. This involves a more global perspective on life processes. Thus, many interesting recent investigations attempt to understand the role thousands of genes or proteins simultaneously. This course will focus on global gene expression experiments using microarray technologies, a technique which allows the measurement of thousands of gene expressions simultaneous. We will take a "leisurely look" at many interesting microarray gene expression studies of various organisms and biological processes. First, students will be introduced to the basics of microarray technologies and gene expression. After the basics are introduced, we will examine interesting case studies. The primary goal is to familiarize student with diverse examples of microarray gene expression experiments and to understand the goals of such experiments.
Format: The seminar will be one hour per week for ten weeks. There will be two informal lectures to introduce the basics. Most of the time will then be devoted to discussion of case studies. Reading materials, including article from scientific journals and popular magazines, will be provided. There is no text for the course. Grading: Preparation by reading provided materials and participation in class discussions will be 40% of the course grade. Students will present, in teams, a hypothetical gene expression experiment on a topic or organism that they would like to investigate (35%). The remaining 25% of the grade will be based on a 1 to 2-page report of the basic concepts, disadvantages, and advantages of micorarray gene expression experiments.
About the Instructor: Professor Nguyen is a faculty member in the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine in the School of Medicine. His primary interests, since 1999, center on analytical methods for microarray gene expression data. His focus is on microarray gene expression experiments in cancer and biomedical research.