Core Courses

Graduate Courses
All 600-level courses are open to undergraduates with permission.

020.601 CURRENT RESEARCH IN BIOSCIENCE
Instructors: Staff
Fall, 1 credit

020.637 GENOMES AND DEVELOPMENT
This course covers the genetic analysis of development, model developmental systems, cell determination, organization of tissues and organs, cell motility and recognition, and sexual reproduction.
Instructors: Van Doren, Spradling, Halpern, Bortvin
Spring, 3 hours

020.668 ADVANCED MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
An advanced course in organization and function of eukaryotic and prokaryotic genes, including discussion of techniques to analyze gene structure and transcription.
Prerequisite: 020.665.
Instructor: Schleif
Fall, 3 hours

020.674 GRADUATE BIOPHYSICAL CHEMISTRY
Students interested in pursuing biophysical research, who have taken undergraduate physical chemistry, may opt to take a two semester series in Molecular Biophysics (250.-689-690). This course will provide an overview of protein and nucleic acid structure, fundamentals of thermodynamics and kinetics, ligand binding, folding and stability of macromolecules, and the principles of biophysical methods such as fluorescence spectroscopy, NMR, and X-ray crystallography. Similar topics are covered in the two-semester series, but with greater emphasis on mathematical and quantitative analysis. Students wishing to pursue this option should consult with faculty.
Instructors: Woodson, Bowman, Brand, Hill
Spring, 3 hours

020.686 ADVANCED CELL BIOLOGY
All aspects of cell biology are reviewed and updated in this intensive course through critical evaluation and discussion of the current scientific literature. Topics include protein trafficking, membrane dynamics, cytoskeleton, signal transduction, cell cycle control, extracellular matrix, and the integration of these processes in cells of the immune system.
Open to graduate students and advanced undergraduates by permission of the instructor.
Instructors: Staff
Fall, 3 hours

020.699 RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT IN RESEARCH COURSE (INTERSESSION)
The Johns Hopkins Departments of Biology, Biophysics, Chemistry and Carnegie Institution are committed to promoting the highest ethical standards amoun our administration, faculty members, and students. Therefore, all trainees and training faculty are required to attend the discussions series, Responsible Conduct of Research. The two week series meets for 6 two hour sessions and will be offered every January. Graduate students must attend the discussion series during their first year of study. Science has come under increased scrutiny and scientific misconduct has become a public issue regularly addressed in the media. Against the background of public skepticism, each university must make a visible commitment to responsible conduct of research. We believe that this is best accomplished by case-based discussions involving both trainees and faculty who are active investigators. In addition to general information, such as Honor in Science, participants will be expected to read related handouts sent to them before each session. Copies of the material contained in the suggested reading list will also be available. Through the use of pre/post testing and presentation evaluations, the course will respond to the specific needs of trainees and faculty.
Instructors: Staff
Intersession

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Elective Courses

020.612 INTRODUCTION TO THE HUMAN BRAIN
This course explores the outstanding problem of biology; how knowledge is represented in the brain. Relating insights from cognitive psychology and systems neuroscience with formal theories of learning and memory, topics include (1) anatomical and functional relations of cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, limbic system, thalamus, cerebellum, and spinal cord; (2) cortical anatomy and physiology including laminar/columnar organization, intrinsic cortical circuit, hierarchies of cortical areas; (3) activity-dependent synaptic mechanism; (4) functional brain imaging; (5) logicist and connectist theories of cognition; and (6) relation of mental representations and natural language.
Instructor: Hedgecock
Spring

020.613 BIOLOGY SCIENCE WRITING
Students will learn how to write abstracts and grant proposals, organize scientific manuscripts and thesis dissertations by writing and rewriting about their own research and editing other students’ work. Focus will be on structure, substance, accessibility, and clarity of writing.
Instructor: Audrey Huang
Spring

020.615 COMMUNICATION BETWEEN CELLS: THE SYNAPSE AS MODEL SYSTEM
All cells inform neighbors of their own activities.  That act of communication frequently requires the formation of cell junctions across which information can pass.  One of the best studied of the means of communication between cells is the synapse between neurons.  This course examines the synapse in depth. both as a means to look at the nature of neuronal comunication and as a model for communication across cells of all types.  Lectures on the physiology, structure, biochemistry and cell biology of synapses will be used as an introduction to the function of synapses in learning and memory and the effect on synapses of drugs and disease.   Prereqs: Biochemistry (020.305) & Cell Biology (020.306) or Cellular Molecular Neuroscience (080.301)
Instructor: Kirkwood

020.620 STEM CELLS
This course consists of introductory lectures given by faculty members, followed by student presentations in the form of seminars. The introductory part will cover the basic knowledge about stem cells, such as: What features make cells qualified as stem cells? What are the unique cellular and molecular properties of stem cells? How do stem cells maintain their identities? What are the mechanisms underlying stem cell differentiation and reprogramming? What are the therapeutic applications of stem cells? The student seminar will be based on selected literatures by the faculty. A summary mini-review paper is required for a chosen topic at the end of the semester.
Instructor: Chen
Spring - even years

020.629 PRINCIPLES OF CANCER BIOLOGY
Lectures include recent findings in tumor genetics, cancer pathways, invasions and metastasis and cancer therapies.
Instructor: Huang
Spring

020.630 HUMAN GENETICS
This course will examine the growing impact of human genetics on the biological sciences, on law and medicine, and on our understanding of human origins. Topics include structure and evolution of the human genome, genetic and physical mapping of human chromosomes, molecular genetics of inherited diseases and forensic genetics.
Instructor: Hedgecock
Fall - even years

020.634 CHROMATIN, GENE EXPRESSION, AND EPIGENETICS
An advanced course in molecular genetics covering various aspects of gene expression, including the structure of the nucleosome, effects of chromatin on transcription of eukaryotic genes, mechanisms of enhancer function, and the role of nuclear organization on gene expression. The course will consist of lectures as well as presentations of current papers by the students.
Instructors: Moudrianakis, Beemon
Fall - even years, 2 credits

020.638 REGULATION AND MECHANISMS OF THE CELL CYCLE
The great progress in eukaryotic cell cycle research in the past decade was made possible by a unique synergism between different modern biological approaches (genetic, cell biological, biochemical, and developmental). These approaches will be highlighted in this course. We will cover the mechanisms the cell employs to carry out its duplication cycle, such as DNA replication, mitotic spindle function, and cytokinesis, as well as the regulatory mechanisms that govern these processes. The relationship of cell cycle biology to the cancer problem will receive special attention.
rerequisites: 020.305, 020.306, and 020.330, or the equivalent.
Instructor: Hoyt
Spring - even years

020.643 VIRUSES AND ANTI-VIRALS
Viral infections are a major health problem to the entire world. The human and economic cost to society is tremendous; however, for many of these diseases no effective cures are available. Viral infections like HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, herpes, HPV, SARS, avian flu, west nile virus, dengue not only affect or threaten people in the developing world but also in the most developed regions of the planet. Currently, fewer than 30 antivirals have been approved by the FDA, most of which specifically target HIV/AIDS. This course will discuss current strategies and approaches for the development of new anti-virals using a molecular and thermodynamic point of view.
Instructors: Beemon, Freire
Spring

020.646 BIOLOGICAL SPECTROSCOPY
This course provides a theoretical background for fluorescence spectroscopy and demonstrates how fluorescence can be used to advantage to address important problems in biochemistry, biophysics, molecular biology, and cell biology.
Instructor: Brand
Fall - even years, 2 hours

020.650 EUKARYOTIC MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
The course will present analysis of the structural basis of the genomic content, beginning with the fluctuations of the DNA structure in response to its cellular microenvironment. Next it will deal with the mechanics of its compaction into chromatin and the differentiation of the chromatin structure at the level of the nucleosome via histone polymorphism and modifications; chromatin-based epigenetics; chromosomal territories, chromosomal imprinting and chromosome inactivation. Next, the lectures will address mechanisms of transcription, the role of transcription factors in initiation, elongation and termination. It will conclude with analysis of the events of RNA processing and export to the cytoplasm. Paradigms of the role of chromatin differentiation to certain human diseases will be presented.
BA/MS or Ph.D. Candidates Only
Instructors: Beemon, Moudrianakis, Zappulla
Fall, 2 hours

020.666 BIOLOGICAL THERMODYNAMICS
An in-depth discussion of thermodynamics, statistical thermodynamics and their applications to the conformational equilibrium and the interactions of biological macromolecules with other macromolecules and small molecular weight ligands.
Graduate Students and Seniors with permission of Instructor.
Instructor: Freire
Fall - 2 hours

020.668 ADVANCED MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
An advanced course in organization and function of eukaryotic and prokaryotic genes, including discussion of techniques to analyze gene structure and transcription.
Prerequisite: 020.665.
Instructor: Schleif
Fall, 3 hours

020.670 (N) EMERGING STRATEGIES and APPLICATIONS in BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH
Up-to-date primary literature manuscripts related to new discoveries and new strategies that are allowing scientists to make amazing progress in biomedical research will be presented. Examples include: labeling neurons with up to 90 different colors to trace their circuitry, evolution studies in glowing bacteria, detecting several viruses on a single chip and using fiber optics and channel rhodopsin to induce sleep. Students should be interested in reading primary literature research papers and discussing them in class.
Instuctor: Hattar
Spring - 3 hours

020.674 GRADUATE BIOPHYSICAL CHEMISTRY
Students interested in pursuing biophysical research, who have taken undergraduate physical chemistry, may opt to take a two semester series in Molecular Biophysics (250.-689-690). This course will provide an overview of protein and nucleic acid structure, fundamentals of thermodynamics and kinetics, ligand binding, folding and stability of macromolecules, and the principles of biophysical methods such as fluorescence spectroscopy, NMR, and X-ray crystallography. Similar topics are covered in the two-semester series, but with greater emphasis on mathematical and quantitative analysis. Students wishing to pursue this option should consult with faculty.
Instructors: Woodson, Brand, Hill, Bowman
Spring  

020.679 ADVANCED BIOLOGICAL MICROSCOPY
This course is intended to build upon the basic skills students acquired in the previous course. Students will be required to work on actual ongoing research projects. The course will emphasize the integration and use of various light and electron microscopic techniques and their application to various research related questions. The course will have primarily a practical “hands-on” component; but will also include theoretical considerations as students will read, analyze, and discuss current journal articles
Prerequisites: Introduction to Biological Electron Microscopy and approval of the instructor.
Instructor: McCaffery
Intersession

020.731 SEMINAR: MOLECULAR MORPHOGENESIS
Instructors: Fan, Hill, Koshland
Spring - odd years, 2 hours

020.735 SEMINAR: MEMBRANE TRAFFICKING
The Membrane Trafficking seminar course consists of several weeks of lectures and discussions led by the professors discussing key background concepts in the field of Membrane Trafficking. Class meetings during the final weeks of the course are seminars on current topics in Membrane Trafficking, led by the students. Over the course of the semester, students will learn about the methods and logic of experiment design, model building and hypothesis testing, gain exposure to and skills in reading and summarizing scientific literature, and get experience with preparing and delivering an effective oral presentation.
Instructors: Wendland, McCaffery
Fall - odd years

020.738 SEMINAR: BIOLOGICAL SPECTROSCOPY
We will discuss important recent and classical papers in biological spectroscopy with an emphasis on steady-state and nanosecond time-resolved fluorescence. Topics will include FRET, fluorescence anisotropy and single molecule fluorescence. We will discuss photophysics and applications of spectroscopy to studies of proteins, membranes and nucleic acids.
Instructor: Brand
Spring - even years

020.739 SEMINAR: TOPICS IN BIOCHEMISTRY
Minireviews taken from the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Students select a topic of their choice from the "Compendium of Minireviews" for the current year, and present it before the class for discussion.

Instructor: Bessman
Spring, 2 hours

020.801-802 RESEARCH ON BIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS
Independent research for the Ph.D. dissertation.
Instructors: Staff

020.823-826 INTRODUCTION TO BIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS
Training in techniques of biological research in research laboratories. Open to first-year biology graduate students only.
Instructors: Staff

250.685 PROTEINS AND NUCLEIC ACIDS
The structure of proteins, DNA, and RNA and their functions in living systems. Experimental and theoretical approaches to macromolecules, including modeling, simulating, and visualizing three-dimensional structures.
Instructors: Woodson, Bowman, Lecomte
Fall

 250.689 PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
Introduction to the principles, methods, and approaches employed in the study of the energetics of proteins and nucleic acids, with emphasis in understanding the relationship between structure, energy, dynamics and biological function.  Topics include classical, chemical, and statistical thermodynamics, kinetics, theory of ligand binding, and conformational equilibria.
Instructor: Garcia-Moreno
Fall, 3 hours

250.690 METHODS IN MOLECULAR BIOPHYSICS
Introduction to the methods employed in the study of energetics, structure, and function of biological macromolecules. Topics include optical spectroscopy, transport methods, NMR, X-ray crystallography. Course emphasizes theoretical understanding and practical knowledge through problem solving and literature discussion.
Prerequisites, highly recommended: Proteins and Nucleic Acids (250.685) and Physical Chemistry of Biological Macromolecules (250.689), Calculus (110.108/109),  or equivalent course work.
Instructors: Bowman, Staff
Spring

 

Students may also take courses on other campuses with permission of the Director of the Graduate Program.

School of Medicine (Course Listings)
The School of Public Health (Course Listings)

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