BIOM 204 Cell and Molecular Biology for Engineers

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BIOM 204Cell and Molecular Biology for Engineers

• William H. Guilford
• Associate Professor
• Undergraduate Program Director

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Dr. Bill

• MR5, Room 1111 (through 1213)
• 243-2740
• guilford_at_virginia.edu
• Office hours Mondays and Wednesdays, 5-6 p.m.
• Other times by appointment.

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Materials

• Teaching Assistant Monica Lee
• myl4b_at_virginia.edu
• No textbook!
• The World of the Cell by Becker et al. is
  recommended for those wanting a reference text or
  additional help.
• Class web site (also linked through the
  Toolkit)http//cti.itc.virginia.edu/whg2n/biom20
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• PowerPoint files
• Streaming audio, slides
• Lists of terms you should know

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Lectures

• You are accustomed to a math-based, quantitative
  and analytical field of study
• There is a comparative lack of quantitative
  expressions in cell biology, which is mostly
  knowledge-based.
• This creates a problem

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The Problem

• What IS the real world problem?
• Where do we find the application of basic
  science to solving a real-world problem?
• What does this have to do with engineering?

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Disease

• Human pathologies will be used as a problem-based
  context for teaching basic biological mechanisms

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Lecture structure

• Present the disease
• Teach the relevant concepts in biology
• Teach the biological cause of the disease
• Discuss the current clinical approaches to the
  disease

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Diseases well cover

• Asthma
• Myocardial infarction
• Cystic fibrosis
• Obesity and dieting
• Multiple sclerosis
• Transplant rejection
• Autoimmune diseases

• ChemBio warfare, including anthrax, mustard gas
  and ricin
• Atherosclerosis
• Familial hypercholesterolemia
• Cholera
• Cancer

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Factoid Professional engineers spend 30-50 of
their time writing.
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Paper

• You will write a review article
• in the style for publication in a scientific
  journal,
• participate in peer review,
• and revise your paper for a final grade.
• The goals
• Learn professional publishing and peer review
• Introduce you to the medical literature
• Give depth in a particular aspect of cell biology
• 40 of your grade!

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Review Articles

• Review articles summarize state of the art in a
  particular area of science or technical
  achievement. They are based upon the primary
  literature.
• The primary literature reports novel experimental
  results.
• How you publish a review article
• Idea!
• Letter to the Editor
• You write the paper, send it to the editor, and
  then

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Peer Review

• Peer Review means that your expert peers read and
  critique your work before it is ever published.
• This is normally the case for scientific
  journals.
• Newspaper articles, magazines, and most books and
  internet sites do NOT meet the same standard of
  reliability.

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How it works

1. First draft
2. Editor
3. Anonymous reviewers
4. Editor ? accepted, needs revisions, or rejected
5. You
6. Editor
7. Anonymous reviewers.

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How it works in HERE

• You MUST work in teams of three!
• You MUST choose a topic from a list to be
  distributed next class.
• No more than seven teams will be allowed on any
  given topic.
• First come, first served topics chosen via a
  letter to the Editor (hard copy only no
  emails)
• The full names and signatures of each person on
  your team
• The topic you have chosen

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How it works in HERE

• This year, you must include a brainstorming
  component
• That is, you must use the knowledge you have
  accumulating while researching your paper to
  propose a novel application, experiment or
  direction.

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Last years topics

• Epigenetic diseases
• Biotechnology and archaea
• Male contraceptives
• Oxidative stress and disease

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How it works in HERE

1. Jan. 30 Letter to the Editor
2. March 1 First draft due (15)
3. March 13 Out for review
4. March 27 Reviews due (10)
5. April 10 Reviews returned
6. May 1 Final draft due (15)

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Grading

• Exams
• Exam 1 10
• Exam 2 15
• Exam 3 20
• Final exam 15

• Paper and peer review
• Review 10
• Paper 30

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Three ways to fail this course

1. Cheat
2. Rely on the web site rather than attending class
   regularly
3. Dont write the paper (or leave it solely to your
   teammates)

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Professorial Advice

• Nothing is so freely given, yet so seldom asked
  for, as advice.

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Dr. Bill

• Hiking
• Motorcycles
• Photography
• My dog
• Do-it-yourselfing
• Musical tastes wide ranging, but these days
  mostly Alternative/Metal (Tool, Seether,
  Godsmack, etc.)
• What else do you want to know?

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Consider for a moment What do WE know about YOU?
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Get Involved!

• Work in a lab, or
• Do an internship
• Why?
• Lab experience sells
• Education that cant be beat
• Publications
• Leg-up on your senior thesis
• Letters of recommendation that

glow
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Letter for the Un-involved

• I am pleased to write this letter of
  recommendation for XXXX. While I must confess
  that I do not know XXXX well, he achieved a high
  grade in my class "Cell and Molecular Biology for
  Engineers" in the spring semester of 2000.
• XXXX is amiable, polite and respectful at all
  times. He is obviously very bright, and I am
  certain he will do well in any and all
  post-graduate study.

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Letter for the Involved

• ZZZZ is one of the most exceptional students with
  whom I have ever worked. It is my pleasure to
  recommend him for medical school.
• lots of details here
• ZZZZs pursuit of a medical degree has been
  unflagging. He is a first rate student, all
  around, and will excel in his medical education.
  I have taught many medical students over the
  years, and based on this experience I expect ZZZZ
  to place in the top 10 of his class, wherever he
  chooses to go. He will be an exceptional
  physician.

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How?

• Find someone whose research interests you.
• TALK to them!
• Remember
• E-mail gets overlooked and lost
• Many professors WANT good undergrads
• Working in a lab requires TIME
• or, find a REU (research experience for
  undergrads)
• or, find an industrial internship (Bobbe Nixon)
• or at least get to know your professors