Module BIOL4051: MOLECULAR BASIS OF DISEASE (MSCI)

Department: Biological and Biomedical Sciences

BIOL4051: MOLECULAR BASIS OF DISEASE (MSCI)

Tied To

• FGC0: Natural Sciences

Pre-requisites

Corequisites

Excluded Combinations

Aims

• To provide an in-depth knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying inherited and acquired disease processes and to instruct in the rational design of novel therapies.

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.

• be able to propose a strategy for the treatment of a disorder by gene therapy.

• 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.
• The poster is the best way of demonstrating presentation skills and the ability to summarise data in a concise fashion.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment

MCQ.