The course aims to give students the knowledge about cell organization at morphological and molecular level. The course also highlights the major themes and experiments of classical and modern genetics.

CELL BIOLOGY
General principles of living matter organization
- Prokaryotic cell and eukaryotic cell
- Virus, viroid and prions.
Chemistry of life
- Inorganic components, water and mineral.
- Biological macromolecules: carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, nucleic acids.
Gene expression
- RNA transcription and RNA processing.
- translation and the genetic code.
Cell membrane
- Structure and function.
- Membrane transit.
Endomembrane system
- Endoplasmic reticulum, ribosomes, Golgi apparatus, lysosomes. Vacuolar compartmentation: exocytosis and endocytosis.
Peroxisomes
Cell nucleus
- Nuclear envelope, Nucleoplasm and nucleoskeleton, Nucleolus.
 -Organization of chromatin: euchromatin and heterochromatin. Chromosomes..
Mitochondria and energy metabolism.
Cytoskeleton
- Microfilaments, intermediate filaments, microtubules.
- Cilia and flagella.
Cell cycle
- DNA replication
- Mitosis.
- Cell cycle regulation
- Meiosis.
Cells in their social context
- Tissues
- Cell differentiation.
- Development of multicellular organisms

GENETICS
Structure and function of nucleic acids
- The DNA. Genes: Genotype and Phenotype.
- The chromosomes and cell reproduction.
Mendelian inheritance
- Mendel's laws.
- Homozygote and heterozygote.
- Autosomal recessive and dominant inheritance; family tree.
Chromosomal basis of inheritance
- Kariotype, autosomal and sex chromosomes
- The chromosome theory of heredity.
- Sex determination and sex-linked genes.
- Dosage compensation of X-linked genes
- Y-linked genes.
Extensions and deviations of Mendelian inheritance
- Incomplete dominance; polyallelic inheritance; co-dominance.
- Essential genes and lethality
- Penetrance and expressivity.
- Interactions between genes and the environment.
- Gene interaction and epistasis
Mutation
- The molecular basis of mutation.
- DNA repair mechanisms.
Variation in chromosome number and structure
- Polyploidy; aneuploidy.
- Rearrangements of chromosome structure.
- Cytogenetic techniques.
Association and genetic recombination.
Non Mendelian inheritance
- Mitochondrial inheritance.
- Genomic imprinting.
 

Knowledge and understanding
The student should demonstrate possession of basic knowledge about essential components of cell, sugars, proteins, lipids and nucleic acids; the student should also demonstrate understanding about organization and function of cell and principles of classical and modern genetics.
Applying knowledge and understanding
The student must show applying knowledge and understanding to reason out, showing the ability to discuss and connect topics as well as analyze experiments of biology and solve problems of genetics.
Making judgements
The student should demonstrate to critically examine the acquired knowledge and independently discuss questions and applied problems.
Communication skills
The student must show possession of communication skills with colleagues and superiors using the appropriate terminology.
Learning skills
The student must show possession of learning skills to update knowledge about this discipline.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Teaching

Lessons

Course books

G. Plopper - Principi di Biologia della cellula - I edizione ZANICHELLI
J. Hardin, G.P. Bertoni, L.J. Kleinsmith - Becher: Il mondo della cellula - VIII edizione PEARSON
B. A. Pierce - GENETICA - II edizione ZANICHELLI
P.J Russel - GENETICA: un approccio molecolare - IV edizione PEARSON.

Assessment

Oral examination with questions about both the cellular biology and genetics, evaluating the ability to make connections between the subjets of study. 

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

Lessons 

Course books

G. Plopper - Principi di Biologia della cellula - I edizione ZANICHELLI
J. Hardin, G.P. Bertoni, L.J. Kleinsmith - Becher: Il mondo della cellula - VIII edizione PEARSON
B. A. Pierce - GENETICA - II edizione ZANICHELLI
P.J Russel - GENETICA: un approccio molecolare - IV edizione PEARSON.

Assessment

Oral examination with questions about both the cellular biology and genetics, evaluating the ability to make connections between the subjets of study. 

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.