Education-Course Descriptions
167. Molecular Pathogenesis of Fungi and Parasites (Identical to Biol. 67)
Instructor: Sundstrom
The goals of this course are two-fold. The first is to gain knowledge about eukaryotic pathogens that will be useful for designing strategies for disease intervention; such as identification of pathogen-specific therapeutic targets for example. The course will emphasize fungi and will touch upon parasites, integrating aspects of the biology, ecology, genetics, biochemistry, and pathology with molecular analyses of host parasite interactions. The second objective is to understand and interpret data in research articles so as to be able to use this information in answering basic questions about the pathogens. The course will begin with didactic lectures that incorporate data from classic papers that have advanced the field to the current level. Next, contemporary published articles will be covered in class with integration of student participation in the explanation of research data on a variety of pathogens described in these articles. The culmination of these efforts will be oral and written presentations by each student of a current area of research on a fungus or parasite with the aim of identifying promising new molecular strategies for fighting diseases caused by eukaryotic pathogens.
Prerequisites: Bio23 (Molecular Biology) and Bio64 (Microbiology) or equivalent. Bio77 (Biochemistry) and Bio66 (Immunology) are recommended.