CELL BIOLOGY

General Information – Spring 2015

 

 

1.     Instructor:                Dr. John Sternfeld

        Office:                     1314 Bowers Hall.

        Office Hours:           MWF 1-2:30 pm; Th 3-4:30 pm

        Email:                      sternfeld@cortland.edu

 

2.     Course Materials:

        Text:                         Cell and Molecular Biology (7th edition) by Gerald Karp.

        Lab Manual:              Laboratory Investigations in Cell and Molecular Biology by Allyn Bregman.

 

3.  Communication:  I want to keep open lines of communication.  One way I will do this is through email, but also material will be posted to a web site: “web.cortland.edu/sternfeld”.  (Note that this is “web”, not “www”.)  I will be using this site to make announcements and to post lab data.

 

4. Labs:  There will be lab every full week during the semester (see attached Laboratory Schedule).  There are three elements to the lab grade.  (1) There will be 10 quizzes each worth 10 points.  The lowest quiz grade will be dropped.  No make-ups will be given for missed quizzes.  (2) There will be 2 Lab Reports, each worth 25 points.  The lab, as a whole, will be worth a total of 140 points.

5. Lecture Exams:  The lecture part of the course will be worth 300 points.  There will be two hour exams, each worth 70 points and a comprehensive final worth 120 points.  The exact timing of the hour exams will be a little flexible, but must occur approximately one third and two thirds through the semester.  There will be quizzes and homework assignments worth a total of 40 points.

Make-up exams.  Only under unusual circumstances will I give a make-up for one of the hour exams.  All make-ups will be held on May 1st.  There will be no make-ups for quizzes or homework.

6. Grading:  For each hour exam I will make a graph (histogram) plotting everyone’s average.  I will post the histograms so that you will be able to determine exactly how you have done relative to everyone else in the class.  Letter grades will be assigned as an approximation for you to judge how you are doing.  The reason for the approximation is that the actual exam score, not the letter grade, will be used in computing your final grade.

At the end of the course there will be a total of 460 points possible; 300 points from lecture, 140 from lab, and 20 points that will be determined from overall performance in lab and lecture.  I will determine an average for each person and plot those on a new histogram.  Then, judging the overall quality of the grades (taken as a whole) and the normal breaks in the histogram, I will divide the histogram into groups to assign the final letter grades.

7.  Calculators:  For any quiz or exam question that requires a calculator, a NON-graphing calculator must be used.  If you do not have one, there will be some you can use.  If you want to use one of the department’s, you may want to familiarize yourself with it a little before you actually need it.

8.  Cell phones:  Cell phones must be turned off and put away during all classes.

9.  SUNY Cortland is committed to all aspects of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.  If you have a disability and wish to request accommodations, contact the Office of Student Disability Services located in B-1 Van Hoesen Hall or call (607) 753-2066.  Information regarding your disability is confidential.  Because accommodations may require early planning, requests for accommodations should be made early in the semester.

 

 

CELL BIOLOGY

Lecture Schedule – Spring 2015

 

 

 

TOPICS

READINGS

 

 

 

 

I.  Introductory Topics

 

 

A. Introduction

Chapter 1

 

1. Discovery &  Characteristics of Cells

p.

1-17

 

2. Size and Measurements

p.

17-19

 

3. Microscopy

p.

732-748

 

4. Viruses, Prokaryotes & Eukaryotes

p.

23-26

 

5. Evolution of Cells

p.

26-30

 

 

 

 

B. Organic Molecules

Chapter 2

 

6. Chemical Bonds

p.

32-37

 

7. Properties of Water

p.

37-38

 

8. pH and Buffers

p.

39-40

 

9. Hydrocarbons & Functional Groups

p.

40-42

 

 

 

 

 

10. Carbohydrates

p.

42-47

 

11. Lipids

p.

47-49

 

12. Proteins

p.

50-65

 

13. Nucleic acids

p.

77-78

 

 

 

 

II.  Membranes

 

 

C. Membrane Structure and Function

Chapter 4

 

14. Composition and Structure

p.

120-147

 

15. Transport

p.

147-159

 

 

 

 

D. The Cell Surface

Chapter 15

 

16. Receptors and Signal Transduction

p.

617-633

 

 

 

 

 

17. Adhesion and Junctions

Chapter  7

 

 

 

 

III.  Cellular Processes Involving Membranes

 

 

E. Enzymes and Metabolic Processes

Ch. 3,5 & 6

 

18. Energy, Enzymes and Metabolic Pathways

p.

86-105

 

19. Glycolysis, Mitochondria and Respiration

p.

108-114

 

 

p.

178-205

 

20. Chloroplasts and Photosynthesis

p.

211-232

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TOPICS

READINGS

 

 

 

 

F. Internal Membranes & Synthesis of Macromolecules

Chapter 8

        Overview

p.

270-273

 

21. Endoplasmic Reticulum

p.

279-289

 

22. Golgi

p.

290-294

 

23. Lysosomes

p.

303-305

 

24. Endocytosis and Membrane Flow

p.

273-278

 

 

p.

295-303

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IV.  Cellular Processes not Involving Membranes (as much)

 

 

G. Cellular Information and Its Dissemination

Ch. 12 & 11

 

25. The Nucleus and the Organization of Chromosomes

p.

488-499

 

26. Transcription and Processing

p.

429-434

 

 

p.

441-456

 

27. Translation

p.

461-474

 

 

 

 

H. Cell Division

 

 

 

28. DNA Replication and The Cell Cycle

p.

545-554

 

 

p.

572-574

 

 

 

 

I. The Cytoskeleton:  Intracellular Structure and Movement

Chapter 9

 

Overview

p.

324-326

 

30. Microtubules

p.

330-345

 

      

p.

581-600

 

      Cilia & Flagella

p.

345-353

 

      Intermediate Filaments and Microfilaments.

p.

354-364

J. Specialized Cell Types

 

 

 

31. Nerve Cells

p.

164-171

 

32. Contractile Cells

p.

364-371

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Long ago it became evident that the key to every

biological problem must finally be sought in the cell,

for every living organism is, or at some time has been, a cell."

¾ Edmund B. Wilson, 1925

 

CELL BIOLOGY

Laboratory Schedule – Spring 2015

 

 

 

 

 

Subject of QUIZ

DATE

TOPIC

PROJECT

or Lab Report

Jan  27 & 29

1. Microscopy

1

---------------

Feb   3 & 5

2. Nucleic Acids

3

Microscopy

Feb  10 & 12

3. pH and Buffers

HANDOUT

Nucleic Acids

Feb  17 & 19

4. Spectrophotometry

HANDOUT

pH and Buffers

Feb  24 & 26

5. Spectrophotometry of DNA and RNA

5

Spectrophoto.

Mar   3 & 5

6. Electrophoresis

6

DNA/RNA L.R.

Mar  10 & 12

7. Membrane Permeability

9 and Handout

Electrophoresis

Mar  17 & 19

   SPRING  BREAK

-------------------

-------------------

Mar  24 & 26

8. Cell Fractionation

10

Memb. Permeability

Mar  31 & Apr 2

9. Succinate Dehydrogenase Activity

11

Cell Fractionation

Apr    7 & 9

10. Enzyme Kinetics

HANDOUT

Succin. Dehydro. L.R.

Apr  14 & 16

11. Chromatography

12

Enzyme Kinetics

Apr  21 & 23

12. Hill Reaction

13

Chromatography

Apr  28 & 30

13. Restriction Mapping of Lambda DNA

17 and Handout

Hill Reaction

May   5 & 7

TBA

 

 

 

 

 

Lab Reports and Quizzes: There will be two lab reports each worth 25 points, due as shown in boldface type above.  There will be 10 quizzes during the semester, one for each lab as indicated above.  Each quiz will be worth 10 points.  Note that quizzes for a particular lab will be given at the beginning of the subsequent lab period.  There will be NO make-ups for missed quizzes.  The quiz of anyone arriving late will be collected no later than the last quiz handed in by someone who was present at the beginning of the class period.  A maximum of 5 quiz points will be awarded to anyone who has missed the laboratory upon which those points are based.  The lowest quiz grade will be dropped in determining the final grade for the course.