Module BIOL3401: MOLECULAR BASIS OF DISEASE (LIT)

Department: BIOLOGICAL AND BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES

BIOL3401: MOLECULAR BASIS OF DISEASE (LIT)

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To provide an in-depth knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying inherited and acquired disease processes and to instruct on the rational design of novel therapies.
• To conduct a supervised investigation of an area within Biological Sciences where knowledge obtained by literature search is important.

Content

• The Human Genome And Genetic Disease: The human genome.
• Mapping human genes.
• Aneuploidy.
• Sex-chromosome aneuploids.
• Prenatal diagnosis of genetic disease.
• Autosomal recessive disorders, Autosomal dominant disorders.
• Sex-linked disorders.
• Haemoglobinopathies.
• Molecular Basis of Cancer: The origins of cancer.
• Angiogenesis.
• Metastasis.
• Oncogenes and signal transduction pathways.
• Cancer therapy I: drugs Cancer Therapy II: Immunotherapy.
• Intermediate filament diseases: Keratin mutations and skin blistering disorders.
• Lessons from keratin knockout mice.
• Desmin myopathies.
• The function of intermediate filament inclusions - hepato-biliary sclerosis.
• Cataract and the role of small heat shock proteins.

Learning Outcomes

• Students should be able to: Understand how inheritance of muted genes leads to pathology either in childhood or in later life.
• Understand how the life style of an individual or his/her environment can give rise to genetic of physiological change within the adult soma that results in life threatening diseases.
• explain the basis of genetic tests that identify individuals who are pre-disposed to disease and appreciate the social consequences of those tests.
• understand how rational design of novel therapies can arise from knowledge of the molecular basis of disease.

• extract, compile and review relevant scientific information from various sources and evaluate them critically.
• acquire, interpret and critically analyse experimental and clinical data and present the results effectively.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• MCQs are appropriate as a revision aid and to demonstrate knowledge acquisition.
• The written report will show the communication skills learnt as well as the ability to interpret.
• The integration of these skills will be assessed in the written examination.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

MCQ.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University