Cellular and Molecular Biology 1408 (for Non-Science Majors)

Section 021 Synonym 32966

Lecture/Lab Anderson HS MTWThF

INSTRUCTOR: Jennifer Keelen (Lazare)

Office Hours: T Th 8-9am

To schedule a conference outside of office hours please email me

Phone: 841-1561

Email: jlazare@austinisd.org or jkeelen@hotmail.com

Class Homepage: http://acconline.austincc.edu/

Required Text: Essential Biology, Campbell (3rd edition)

Course Description: BIOL 1408 INTRODUCTORY BIOLOGY -- UNITY OF LIFE (4-

3-3). Introductory biology course designed for non-science majors who desire a
conceptual approach to biological topics. An introduction to the nature of science, the
characteristics of life, the molecular and cellular basis of life, genetics, reproduction, and
development. An emphasis will be placed on how these topics are related to current
issues such as genetic engineering, biotechnology, and problems facing modern society.
BIOL 1406 and 1408 may not both be counted toward graduation.

COURSE MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

REQUIRED TEXT:

1. LECTURE

• Essential Biology, Campbell (3rd edition)

• Normally, you are required to purchase all textbooks for dual credit courses (just as you
would have to do if you were in college). But because the cost of the books is high, Mrs.
Houser has purchased a class set for us. These books can not leave the classroom, but
can be checked out for short periods of time.
• You MAY purchase your own textbook to keep at home…suggested but I am not requiring
it. Best place to get the text is amazon.com or some other online textbook site. It can
also be purchased at any UT or ACC bookstore. Used books are about 70.00. new
books are about 100.00
 2. INTERNET

• Lazare Website: www.austinisd.org/staff/22

• Biology Course Website: www.campbellbiology.com
• I will give you a log in for the course website. Here you will find quizzes, videos and
online assignments to complete.
• You also need access to printing either at home OR on campus

3. LAB:

• 1. Laboratory Manual for Biology 1408, 12th edition, by Biology 1408 Faculty at ACC.
The laboratory manual is available for purchase at the Official ACC Bookstores only.

• 2. Scientific Calculator (TI-36X recommended) - Your calculator should be able to

calculate the mean and standard deviation for a single set of numbers, as well as carry
out linear regression for a paired set of numbers.

• 3.Laboratory Notebook - your notebook must have a permanent binding (sewn-in or spiral
bound) Notebooks with loose-leaf binders are NOT acceptable.

• 4.Goggles or safety glasses marked ANSI Z87.1 - If you forget your safety eyewear and
the lab room does not have a pair to loan to you, you will not be able to participate in the
lab and may forfeit your lab grade for that day. ACC cannot guarantee that loaned safety
glasses or safety goggles are uncontaminated by microbes or chemicals.

4. Online Grades- Available at www.mygradebook.com

INSTRUCTIONAL METHODOLOGY
This course is taught in the classroom as a lecture/lab combination.
A) LECTURE
Lecture meets 5 times per week. The lecture schedule lists the topic that will be discussed each
day that lecture meets and the required reading assignment and notes for each class.
B) LAB

GRADES-
If you are having difficulty in this class, or if you would like some suggestions on how to improve
your grade, please see my website for helpful websites and tutoring:
1. Lecture Exams: 60%
2. Everything else (pre-labs, lab reports, lab notebooks checks, homework
etc…): 40%
COURSE POLICIES
A) ATTENDANCE-
You are expected to attend all scheduled classes, unless you have a serious illness or
emergency. If you are late or absent you are still responsible for all deadlines, directions,
discussion, materials, activities, assignments, or announcements covered in class. Policies and
procedures for making up missed assignments are described in the GRADING section of this
syllabus.
During the first week of class, safety training for lab will be conducted during your regular lab
period. If you miss this, you can be removed from the class and can not participate in labs.
I DO NOT accept late work!!!!!!!!
I will drop you from the course if you are frequently absent and borderline failing

B) WITHDRAWALS
Students are responsible for withdrawing themselves from the class. It is the responsibility of all
students to know their status in the class at all times and to turn in their own withdrawal form if
they decide to drop the course. Students who do not complete all work by the unit 4 deadline and
who have not withdrawn themselves will receive an F unless they qualify for and have requested
an Incomplete. In order to withdraw, YOU must turn in a completed withdrawal slip by the
withdrawal deadline.
There are no retroactive withdrawals. Sometimes, after the withdrawal deadline has passed, I
receive requests from students asking me to drop them from the class. These students often
claim that they thought they had been dropped before the deadline, or they thought they would be
dropped, or they forgot they enrolled, or they actually did drop but for some reason the withdrawal
did not appear on their record, etc. Such requests will NOT be honored. If you decide to drop the
class, it is your responsibility to withdraw yourself before the withdrawal deadline and keep
WRITTEN PROOF of your withdrawal until you receive your final grade in the mail. This means
you should keep your copy of the withdrawal form (stamped by the Admissions and Records
Office). If you drop by phone or over the Internet, or if you lose your copy of the withdrawal form,
you should immediately go to the Admissions and Records Office and get a printed copy of your
schedule which shows that you are no longer enrolled in the class.

C) INCOMPLETES
To receive an incomplete, ALL of the following conditions MUST be met:
1. You must have earned at least 65% of the total points possible for the work
you completed.
2. You must contact me (an email or voice message is okay) no later than 4 pm
on the day of the final lecture exam and request an incomplete.
3. You must provide written proof that an EMERGENCY (generally restricted to a
serious accident, serious illness, or death) has prevented you from completing
the course.

D) Statement on Scholastic Dishonesty

"Acts prohibited by the college for which discipline may be administered include scholastic
dishonesty, including but not limited to, cheating on an exam or quiz,
plagiarizing, and unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing outside work. Academic
work submitted by students shall be the result of their thought,
research or self-expression. Academic work is defined as, but not limited to, tests, quizzes,
whether taken electronically or on paper; projects, either individual
or group; classroom presentations; and homework.”

E) Statement on Students with Disabilities

"Each ACC campus offers support services for students with documented physical or
psychological disabilities. Students with disabilities must request reasonable accommodations
through the Office of Students with Disabilities on the campus where they expect to take the
majority of their classes. Students are encouraged to do this three weeks before the start of the
semester.”

“Students who are requesting accommodation must provide the instructor with a letter of
accommodation from the Office of Students with Disabilities (OSD) at the beginning of the
semester. Accommodations can only be made after the instructor receives the letter of
accommodation from OSD.”

F) Statement on Academic Freedom

"Institutions of higher education are conducted for the common good. The common good
depends upon a search for truth and upon free expression.
In this course the professor and students shall strive to protect free inquiry and the open
exchange of facts, ideas, and opinions.
Students are free to take exception to views offered in this course and to reserve judgment about
debatable issues. Grades will not be affected by
personal views. With this freedom comes the responsibility of civility and a respect for a diversity
of ideas and opinions.
This means that students must take turns speaking, listen to others speak without interruption,
and refrain from name-calling or other personal attacks."

G) Statement on Lab Safety

"Health and safety are paramount values in science classrooms, laboratories and field activities.
Students are expected to learn, understand and comply with environmental, health and safety
(EHS)
procedures and protocols, and must agree to abide by the ACC science safety policy. Students
are expected to
conduct themselves with appropriate professional behavior and with respect and courtesy to all.
Anyone who thoughtlessly or intentionally jeopardizes the health or safety of another individual
will be
immediately dismissed from the day’s activity, may be withdrawn from the class, and/or barred
from attending
all activities. Specific safety information for each activity will be discussed at the beginning of the
activity.
For those activities that require specific safety training, a student who is late and misses the
safety
training will not be able to participate in the activity. The comprehensive science safety policy can
be
found at:http://www.austincc.edu/sci_safe/

TESTING CENTER POLICY

ACC Testing Center policies can be found at: http://www2.austincc.edu/testctr/

STUDENT SERVICES
The web address for student services is: http://www3.austin.cc.tx.us/evpcss/rss/Default.htm.
The ACC student handbook can be found at: http://www3.austincc.edu/evpcss/handbk/toc.htm.

INSTRUCTIONAL SERVICES
The web address is: http://www3.austincc.edu/evpcss/memos/reference.htm,
then click on “Campus Based Student Support Overview”.
BIOL 1408 Introductory Biology: The Unity of Life Common Course
Objectives

BIOL 1408 Introductory Biology: The Unity of Life. Designed for

non-science majors who desire a more conceptual approach to
biological topics. An introduction to the nature of science, the
characteristics of life, the molecular and cellular basis of life,
genetics, reproduction, and development. An emphasis will be
placed on how these topics are related to current issues and
problems facing modern society.

In the 21st century, molecular biology will change our lives in ways that we
cannot yet even begin to predict. It will affect the food we eat, how we maintain
health and treat disease, what we know about our children before they are born,
our understanding of our relationships to all living things, our sense of what it
means to be human.
All of our students need to be prepared to deal with these changes, including the
students who are not majoring in biology. BIOL 1408 is not intended to be a
"watered-down" or "dumbed-down" version of BIOL 1406 Cellular and Molecular
Biology for science majors. On the contrary, it is a challenging course, but one
with a different focus from the traditional cell biology course.
The primary focus of BIOL 1408 is the development of the skills that will enable
our students to think critically and evaluate the flood of new information that the
tools of molecular biology are making possible. To do this, they must have a
foundation of general knowledge about cell biology. In addition, they must also
learn about the techniques of molecular biology and their practical applications,
how these applications will affect them, and the "current issues and problems
facing modern society" that relate to these applications.
Instructors should spend about 50% of the course time on the core topics listed
below so that students can learn the fundamentals of cell biology. Since only
50% of the class time is devoted to these core topics, they will not be covered in
the depth or detail that they are in BIOL 1406. Understanding of basic concepts is
the goal, not memorization of complex biochemical processes.
The remaining class time should be spent on the "current issues and problems
facing modern society" part of the course, with the topics to be chosen based on
instructor and student interest. Suggested applications topics are listed after
each of the core topics. None of the applications topics is specifically required,
and many other topics not listed may be appropriate for BIOL 1408. Instructors
are free to determine the order in which the core topics are presented and how
the core topics and applications are integrated.
BIOL 1408 Committee members: Steve Bostic, Jackie Jarzem, Steve Muzos, and
Steve Ziser
BIOL 1408 Core Topics and Suggested Topics for
Applications, Current Issues, and Problems facing
Society
o Core Topic: The nature of science
- Methods of science

Applications, current issues, and problems facing society:

Suggested topics
What is a "scientific fact"? What is a "scientific theory"?
What types of questions can science answer?
Conflicts between science and religion
Why can't scientists agree?
Evaluating scientific reports in the media
Science as a language
Scientific fraud
Use and abuse of statistics
Fringe science
History of scientific thought
Fallacy of "Creation Science"
Making informed choices
Critical thinking
Scientific responsibility
Value of science
Levels of certainty and different scientific methodologies (e.g.
relative reliability of anecdotal evidence, epidemiological studies,
controlled experiments, elucidating mechanisms, etc.)
Science, religion, philosophy, ethics, art: Science compared to
other ways of understanding nature
Social structure of science (scientific societies, peer-reviewed
journals, etc.)
The responsibilities of scientists to society

o Core Topic: Cells

- Characteristics of life
- Basic cell components (organelles and other cell components,
including plasma membrane and an overview of membrane
transport)
- Types of cells (prokaryotes and eukaryotes)
- Hierarchy of life (cells, organisms, ecosystems, biosphere)

Applications, current issues, and problems facing society:

Suggested topics
How do we define "life"?
Medical definitions of "life" and "death"
Endosymbiotic theory
Cell communication
Signal transduction
Origin and evolution of cells
Exobiology
The role of bacteria in the biosphere
Human diseases caused by microorganisms
How do antibiotics work? Why can't flu or AIDS be cured with
antibiotics?
What are viruses?

o Core Topic: Evolution and its mechanisms

- Natural selection
- Recombination
- Mutations

Applications, current issues, and problems facing society:

Suggested topics
Other mechanisms of evolution, e.g. gene flow, genetic drift
Evolutionary time line
Gould, Eldridge, Margulis, and their critics
Debates about "how" vs. debates about "if"
Human evolution
Evolution vs. creationism
Origin of life on Earth
Antibiotic resistance
Species extinctions

o Core Topic: Substances important to living things

- Inorganic substances
- Biomolecules: Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins, Nucleic acids
(Overview and practical applications)

Applications, current issues, and problems facing society:

Suggested topics
Nutrition
Nutritional supplements
Electrolytes
Health foods
Vegetarianism
Malnutrition and hunger
Fad diets

o Core Topic: Cell metabolism

(at a level appropriate for non-science majors; emphasis on inputs and outputs)
- Photosynthesis
- Respiration

Applications, current issues, and problems facing society:

Suggested topics
How carbon cycles through the biosphere
Energy flows through the biosphere
Nutrient cycling
Why graphs of CO2 in the atmosphere spike up and down as the
seasons change
How do yeasts make beer and wine? What's in it for them?
If plants "make their own food," why do we feed them? (e.g. Rapid-
Gro)
Global warming

o Core Topic: Protein synthesis

- The structure of DNA
- Transcription: Writing the protein code in RNA
- Translation: Ribosomes link amino acids

[The following are not part of the "core topics," coverage is optional:
mRNA processing, manufacture of ribosomes, specific enzymes of
transcription and translation, gene regulation, protein synthesis in
prokaryotes and eukaryotes]

Applications, current issues, and problems facing society:

Suggested topics

Decoding the human genome

Methods
Human Genome Project vs Celera: History and goals
Ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI)
 Privacy issues and genetic discrimination
Medical and commercial applications
Decoding other genomes (bacteria, yeast, Drosophila, C. elegans,
mouse, etc.); comparing species
Gene sequencing to choose effective drug treatments
Human genetic defects and the specific missing or defective
proteins that cause them (Ex: albinism, sickle-cell anemia, cystic
fibrosis, etc.)
Production of human proteins for medical use, e.g. Humulin (human
insulin), Procrit (erythropoietin), Humatrope (human growth
hormone)
Industrial microbiology

o Core Topic: Mutations

- What causes mutations
- The effects of mutations
- Somatic vs germ-line mutations

Applications, current issues, and problems facing society:

Suggested topics
Cancer and "cancer genes" (oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes,
telomerase, etc.)
Types of mutations (frame-shift, point mutations, chromosomal
abnormalities)
The role of mutations in evolution
Harmful, neutral, and beneficial mutations
Incidence of specific mutations

o Core Topic: The cell cycle

- DNA replication
- Mitosis
- Bacterial fission
- Cytokinesis

Applications, current issues, and problems facing society:

Suggested topics
Parthenogenetic species
Cancer treatments and how they work
Growth and development

o Core Topic: Patterns of inheritance

- Meiosis
- Mendelian genetics
- Molecular genetics
- Hereditary disease
 Applications, current issues, and problems facing society:
Suggested topics
Genetic counseling
The mathematics of probability
Making pedigrees
Hereditary diseases and genetic screening (psychology, ethics,
discrimination issues)
Paternity testing
Gene therapy
Amniocentesis and other prenatal tests
Karyotyping
Human reproduction
Birth control
Infertility treatments
Genetics of domesticated animals (pets, livestock)
Genetics of crop plants, how common food plants have changed
Problems of monoculture
Seed banks

o Core Topic: Biotechnology

- Basic methods of biotechnology
- Representative practices

Applications, current issues, and problems facing society:

Suggested topics
Polymerase chain reaction
Gel electrophoresis
Restriction enzymes
Vectors
DNA and protein sequencing
Recombinant DNA
RFLP analysis and DNA fingerprinting
Pharmaceuticals from biotechnology
Biotechnology research tools
Biotechnology regulation
DNA microarrays
How genetic testing is done
Genetically modified crops
Cloning
Germ warfare
Safety issues
o Core Topic: Viruses
- Basic structure
- Viral replication

Applications, current issues, and problems facing society:

Suggested topics
HIV and AIDS
Immune system
Treatments for HIV infections--how do they work? (e.g. AZT,
protease inhibitors)
1918 influenza pandemic
Viruses in our genome
The role of viruses in evolution
Viruses and autoimmunity
Other non-cellular agents of disease: prions
Emerging diseases