Course Director: Brian
Harfe, Ph.D.
Course description:
In today’s research, scientists need to be familiar with experiments performed in a diverse array of model systems. It is common for a gene or biochemical pathway to be examined using multiple model systems. In this course, students will be exposed to the major model systems used in scientific research. The pros and cons of using each organism will be investigated in detail. After completing this course, students will be expected to understand scientific papers describing experiments in each organism. In addition, students will be expected to be able to choose an appropriate model system(s) to tackle a specific scientific question.
Organisms that will be covered:
M. musculus (mice)
D. rerio (zebrafish)
A. thaliana (Arabidopsis - plant)
C. elegans (worm)
D. melanogaster (fruit fly)
S. cerevisiae (budding yeast)
S. pombe (fission yeast)
E. coli (bacteria)
X. leavis/tropicalis (frogs)
G. gallus (chicken)
Other, less frequently used systems (snakes, lamprey, sea urchin, shark, leech)
2-23-06 WTM