AP0404 - Cell Biology and Genetics

You will learn through lectures, seminars and laboratory practical sessions. The lectures will cover the theories and the concepts that will enable you to tackle complex genetic diseases and clinical cases presented in seminars and DNA manipulation in the practical.

You will be given lecture materials and directed reading to inform both self-directed learning and in-class activities. Support will include self-test MCQ quizzes to provide formative feedback, allowing students to gauge their own performance prior to assessments. The module will make use of the eLP (Blackboard Ultra site) to provide content for pre reading and as a way of providing formative (practice) and summative assessment (marked). Staff will deal with your questions and queries in lectures and practical sessions on issues of module content and also to provide guidance on assessments and directed reading

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

Knowledge & Understanding:
1. Understand the structure and function of the principal components and organelles of mammalian cells and microbes.
2. Understand the significance of nucleic acids and the Central dogma of molecular biology.
3. Describe structural, organisational and functional aspects of bacterial and human genes and genomes.
4. Interpret and solve problems based on chromosomal disorders or Mendelian genetics.

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
5. An ability to conceive of processes at the molecular, cellular and cross generation (heritable) levels

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):

You will be formatively assessed with practice MCQ banks and feedback provided online.

You will be summatively assessed by two online assessments worth 50% each.

The first assessments will be composed of multiple choice questions (MCQs) and short answer questions (SAQs) including a question related to scientific literature.
The second assessment is composed of MCQs and SAQs under exam conditions testing Module Learning Outcomes 1-5

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The module will encapsulate how a cell becomes a cell, from the genetic information provided by DNA to how this information is interpreted and how cells can acquire specialised functions, work together and form multicellular organisms. You will study Cell Biology - the structure and function of cells and the organelles they contain. This study includes their life cycle, division, self-replication and death processes. You will develop this knowledge further with the study of Genetics and Molecular Biology. In Genetics, you will study the structure and function of genes and genomes. The Molecular Biology that underpins the manipulation of nucleic acids (DNA, RNA) will form the basis of lecture material and a practical session. This introduces DNA manipulation and study in the laboratory, fundamental to biomedical and molecular biology research.
You will extend this knowledge into the study of the role of genes and mutations in inheritance of disease. This will be introduced in Clinical Genetics, where the identification of genetic mutations and polymorphisms and their influence on disease processes are discussed. By the end of the module you will have acquired knowledge of the fundamental principles that guide our understanding of health and disease.