BSCI 5081 MSTP RESEARCH ROTATION
The Core Course presents firstyear students with an integrated view of contemporary biology that begins at the level of individual molecules and progresses through an analysis of the complex structures and functions of differentiated cells. Four "threads" of study focus on genes, proteins, membranes, and cells/organelles and run throughout the course. In addition, several important physiological "systems" have been chosen for in-depth discussions. These have included the liver (to present the integration and regulation of several important metabolic pathways), the kidney (cell polarity, membrane transport, water balance), the heart (muscle contraction, neuronal and humoral regulation), the immune system (antigen/antibody interactions, antigen presentation, T-and 8- cell differentiation, receptor gene rearrangements), the visual system (signal transduction, cellular organization, sensory neurobiology), and oncogenesis (cell cycle, differentiation, growth control, mutagenesis). Analysis of these systems is used to illustrate how the knowledge and concepts developed during study of the basic threads can be integrated and interrelated.