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PHA-10026 - Module Specification
School of Pharmacy and Bioengineering
Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences

For academic year: 2021/22 Last Updated: 16 February 2022

PHA-10026 - Molecular Biology and Genetics
Coordinator: Gianpiero Di Leva Tel: +44 1782 671651
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 4
Credits: 30
Study Hours: 300
School Office:

Programme/Approved Electives for 2021/22

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2021/22

Molecular biology and genetics are the foundation of modern medicine and recent advances in these disciplines have provided many tools to dissect the function of a gene and understand how mutations have an impact on biological processes and diseases. This module is designed to give you a firm and detailed overview of how genetic information is stored into the DNA and how it is expressed, copied, repaired and transmitted to the next generation. Lectures in the traditional and virtual format will be complemented by a series of practical sessions that will support your understanding of nucleic acids and their manipulation.

Aims
The module will instil basic understanding of nucleic acids, structure and organisation of the genetic materials and its inheritance, the concept of gene as well as information about gene expression and regulation.

Talis Aspire Reading List
Any reading lists will be provided by the start of the course.
http://lists.lib.keele.ac.uk/modules/pha-10026/lists

Intended Learning Outcomes

Describe the structure and function of the genome and understand the basic mechanisms of its replication.: 1,4
Describe the main key players of the central dogma of the molecular biology and understand how genetic information is used by cells.: 1,4
Explain how mutations affect cell behaviours and understand their pathological implication.: 1,3
Describe traditional principles of the genetic inheritance.: 1,3
Describe basic mechanisms of gene expression and gene expression regulation.: 1,4
Plan and undertake basic experimental procedures essential to create recombinant DNA molecules such as DNA extraction, DNA amplification by PCR, digestion, ligation, agarose electrophoresis.: 2
Perform basic bioinformatics analysis.: 2

Study hours

Lectures: 48 hours
Laboratory sessions: 32 hours
Poster Presentation: 6 hours
Exams: 4 hours
Independent Study Hours: 210

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Portfolio weighted 40%
Problem Set
A series of four in course assignments (4 problems each assignment) that will be set during the module consisting of practical problems in classical genetics and molecular biology. Students will have two weeks to submit the solutions via Turnitin.

2: Portfolio weighted 20%
Laboratory activities
Multiple laboratory low stakes attitudinal tests (40% assessment weight) and a laboratory poster presentation (60% assessment weight) held two weeks after the completion of the practical sessions. The poster presentation should describe the results generated during the laboratory series.

3: Exam weighted 20%
Exam
A two hours exam comprising of 40 MCQ questions (five choices, one correct answer) and short answer questions (two to be chosen out of four), covering material across the first semester of genetics.

4: Exam weighted 20%
Exam
A two hour exam comprising of 40 MCQ questions (five choices, one correct answer) and short answer questions (two to be chosen out of four), covering material across the second semester of molecular biology.

Please note that for the 2021/22 Academic Year all programmes will be adapted to operate in accordance with a flexible, digital approach. This means that there will be some changes made to how modules are delivered and assessed. The latest information will be provided to you by your School in module handbooks. We endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes and details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/student-terms-and-conditions/

Last Updated: 16 February 2022