Molecular Biology - Part 2: Transcription and Transposition

Massachusetts Institute of Technology via edX

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This course may be unavailable.

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Provider

edX
Pricing

Free Online Course (Audit)
Languages

English
Certificate

$99.00 Certificate Available
Duration & workload

7 weeks, 4-8 hours a week
Sessions

Finished
Level

Advanced
Subtitles

English, Chinese

Found in

Overview

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In Part 2 of this Molecular Biology course, you’ll explore transcription of DNA to RNA, a key part of the central dogma of biology and the first step of gene expression.

Did you know that transposable elements, the genetic information that can move from location to location, make up roughly 50 % of the human genome? Did you know that scientists have linked their movement into specific genes to the causes of certain diseases? You’ll also learn how these “jumping genes” work and how scientists study them in Molecular Biology: Transcription and Transposition.

Are you ready to go beyond the “what" of scientific information presented in textbooks and explore how scientists deduce the details of these molecular models?

Take a behind-the-scenes look at modern molecular genetics, from the classic experimental events that identified the proteins and elements involved in transcription and transposition to cutting-edge assays that apply the power of genome sequencing. We've designed the problems in this course to build your experimental design and data analysis skills.

Let’s explore the limits of our current knowledge about the transcription machinery and mechanisms of transposition. If you are up for the challenge, join us in 7.28.2x Molecular Biology: Transcription and Transposition.

Syllabus

Week 1 : Machinery and Promoters of Bacterial Transcription

Week 2 : Bacterial Regulation of Bacterial Transcription

Week 3 : Machinery and Promoters of Eukaryotic Transcription

Week 4 : Regulation of Eukaryotic Transcription I

Week 5 : Regulation of Eukaryotic Transcription II

Week 6 : Transposition

Week 7 : CRISPR

Taught by

Tania A. Baker and Stephen P. Bell

Reviews

4.8 rating, based on 41 Class Central reviews

Start your review of Molecular Biology - Part 2: Transcription and Transposition

Anonymous

I am auditing this class. I am a retired professor of organic chemistry that has published in the areas of drug function (mechanism) and drug discovery. I do not take notes (as I should!) and do not review material (as I should!) but listen for enli…

I am auditing this class. I am a retired professor of organic chemistry that has published in the areas of drug function (mechanism) and drug discovery. I do not take notes (as I should!) and do not review material (as I should!) but listen for enlightenment and enjoyment. With that as a preface. Professor Bell is really quite spectacular. He is dynamic, engaged, expansive in his knowledge. He works hard in the classroom. He is marvelously clear (most of the time) in his explanations, and his speaking is fluid and without pauses and extraneous words. His dedication to writing on the blackboard allows those who take notes to keep pace, and he power points when used are very informative. Simply, he is an engaged lecturer. If I were a new graduate student i would be attracted to his lab because he views biological molecules as chemical entities that perform function and he appears grounded in mechanism. The quizzes and exams are non-trivial (not an easy task to do with multiple choice questions). These classes have taken a lot of thought and work. Thank you very much.
Anonymous

Another superb course. Follows on (obviously) from Part 1 and is the same quality and depth. The quiz questions seem a bit more challenging than for part 1, but a lot of the learning comes from working through them, so I strongly recommend attempting them even if you are not interested in the certificate.
Anonymous

Another great course from the MITx Bio team. You'll learn about the molecular details of how RNA is produced from DNA in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. The series put a great emphasis on assays, i.e. they explain to you how did they find out what they found out. The last 2 weeks goes into the details how transposition and CRISPR works which are important to understand gene therapy/editing technologies.
As this is Part 2 of a 3 part series, obviously part 1 is a prerequisite. You'll need to be familiar with the bio and biochem fundamentals (7.00x and 7.05x) in order to be able to keep up with the course.
Eric Smith

Very good course lots to enjoy. The focus on Quizzes is really good but and sorry there is a but without significant lab experience students will find it more challenging. Experimental design thinking to tackle specific problems isn't really ha…

Very good course lots to enjoy.

The focus on Quizzes is really good but and sorry there is a but without significant lab experience students will find it more challenging.

Experimental design thinking to tackle specific problems isn't really happening through tuition so far though the student is given examples in the Quizzes.

Students who are not used to analysis and graphical interpretation of experimental data using course concepts etc will find this course more challenging because with out these skills learning will not be easily facilitated.

As a suggestion a Unit on assays for some simple problems to illustrate how the experiments actually work and then how to interpret and analyse the experimental data would be useful addition to the course.
Anonymous

Having just completed the third quiz in this course, as requested, my review follows:
I am having a wonderful time. The course is intellectually challenging with great lectures and visual teaching aids. I have approached the courses seriously and believe my knowledge base is being reasonably expanded. In addition to specific factual comprehension, I have developed improved study and learning skills.
I am a retired physician (MD, 1973). This is my third MITx bio course. Dr. Bell and Dr. Landers are magnificently inspiring lecturers, reminiscent of the best I encountered during formal university years.
Peter Mayr- Obitsch Phd ScD

After completing the first course of DNA Transcription and Repair it was satisfying that this course has the same high quality as well.
Although I'm performing this after a completely different study due to pure interest without currently existing professional background, it's feasible to succeed if you have at least some basic knowledge about the matter and apply methodical learning procedures.
Anyway one should have performed the first course mentioned above before.
The parallel script file is helpful for a non-native speaker like me.
Summary: Highly recommendable because this matter represents the future - I'm gladly looking forward to the third course after finishing this one.
Anonymous

Similar to the first part of the course. S. Bell is wonderful and the insight I have gained is very encouraging. However, the course is very demanding and challenging (but worthwhile). This course is not an introductory course! Be ready to invest time unless you have excellent grasp on molecular biology. I would recommend this course for experienced junior scientist as well, since this course takes the analysis of experimental data to a next level - everything is under scrutiny.
Anonymous

In this course you go through the details of experiments at the level of publications in Nature. What is most appreciated are the highly professional and respectful answers of the staff (and other learners who often are also professionals in the domain), no matter what is your degree of experience or understanding. It becomes increasingly interesting as you advance, especially because of the filling of the connectedness with the front end research community.
Anonymous

Excellent course. Prof. Bell is always very clear . The description of the assays gives a good concrete idea of how the research is designed and the quizzes help a lot to understand the experimental scenarios. In my eyes, this course has the power to spark a passion for molecular biology!
Anonymous

Wonderful content and engaging quizzes. After reviewing the course content, I'm able to develop an intuition to design experiments and thus proves to be very useful for research studies. I enjoy learning this course!
Anonymous

A very good follow-on to the initial course in this series (728.1x). It's necessary to take these courses in order, but if you do, the problem sets are excellent and tell a continuous story while promoting active learning, not just regurgitation of material. Lectures are clear and full of information, and the discussion boards are helpful for clarifying questions.
Anonymous

I greatly enjoyed the course and look forward to 728.3 I don't have any ideas on improving the course which frankly doesn't need improvement. I would plunge deeper if possible.
Anonymous

A great class with smooth lecturing, nice animations, and challenging problem sets that are directly related to the lab work.
Anonymous

Best course on transcription ever! The lectures are absolutely perfect, with unmatched quality in both explaining the topics discussed and going into interesting details. I have learned far more from this course than I have even dreamed of. I also indeed enjoined the quizzes in this course, even though, for me, they are usually the most tedious part of the learning process. The authors of the course make the quizzes much more enjoyable by including real-world problems and made-up characters in them.
Carl Krasniak

Demanding but satisfying. Good use of graphics. Typical MIT problem sets that assume grasp of class presentations and are designed to further explore new concepts. Heavy on analytic techniques and evaluation of lab results.
Owusu Zippora

What is the meaning of public health
Meaning of child bearing
Prenatal care
Postnatal care
Midwifery research
Midwifery emergencies
Anonymous

I reached the middle of this course. It is one of the highest quality courses I have followed. Before taking this course, you must take the 7.28.1x course. Prof. Bell is an excellent lecturer and describes the subject in a pleasant and nicely struct…

I reached the middle of this course. It is one of the highest quality courses I have followed. Before taking this course, you must take the 7.28.1x course. Prof. Bell is an excellent lecturer and describes the subject in a pleasant and nicely structured language. A lot of attention was paid to the design of quizzes in this course (as in 7.28.1x). The quizzes are not aiming just at a formal memorization of what was said during the lecture but lead you through new assays and methods that were not covered in the previous lectures. You are expected to be focused when working on the quizzes and you definitively need time. Quizzes teach you to interpret a wide range of various types of graphical interpretations of the comparative data. You are often expected to connect the results of one set of experiments with those of another set. So, the quizzes require a work from the learner that at the end unifies the entire set of all experimental setups and their respective goals into a clear meaningful picture.
Anonymous

So far Prof. Bell has done a great job of explaining the necessary material. This course is interesting and am learning a lot.
Anonymous

Excellent in-depth course with an emphasis on experimental assays to apply your knowledge of the underlying mechanisms taught in the lectures.

Occasionally, the effort to make sure students are apply problem-solving skills stretches to a point where a lack of molecular biology lab experience is really what determines your grade. In other words, it is more than knowing your genetics and chemistry. The lectures are thorough, but since the grading relies so heavily on experimental design using assays which receive cursory coverage in the course, you'll need to either research heavily or have hands-on experience.

Nonetheless, you'll definitely learn in this course!
James Kress

The lectures and test yourself are useful. Unfortunately, the Quiz's heavy bias on experimental results and their interpretation is debilitating.

The required precedents for courses already taken is not sufficient to provide the necessary background for students who need more exposure to the course assumed knowledge of experimental methods, techniques and interpretation. Without that level of prior knowledge, it is difficult to receive passing grades on the Quizzes.

In the best interest to those who are taking the course for credit/ certificate, a preliminary lecture series should be provided for those who have not had requisite experimental experience.