1. To develop students’ knowledge and understanding of the genetic basis of inheritance.

2. To show how phenotypic expression can be modified by genetic background.

3. To outline how genes located on the same or on different chromosomes can be transmitted during gamete formation.

4. To analyze the influence of chromosomal aberrations in phenotype of organisms.

5. To develop students’ understanding of the mechanisms and the consequences of gene mutations and DNA repair. 

6. To outline statistical methods used to study the inheritance of quantitative or polygenic traits.

7. To outline the results of changes in genotype and allele frequencies in populations.

8. To develop students’ ability to solve complicated genetic problems.

At the end of the course students should: a) Have acquired enhanced knowledge on all fields of Basic Genetics, b) Be able to develop cogent and critical arguments based on complicated genetic problems, c) Be able to perform, analyze and report on experiments and observations based on the inheritance of monogenic or polygenic traits, d) Be familiar with mechanisms of mutagenesis and gene repair, d) Have acquired enhanced knowledge and understanding of the inheritance of quantitative and polygenic traits.

Introduction to Genetics - Mendelian Genetics (1 hr) - The chromosomal basis of Mendelian Genetics (1 hr) - Extensions of Mendelian Genetics (10 hrs): Multiple alleles, lethal alleles, modified dihybrid ratios, epistasis - Linkage, crossing over, and mapping in eukaryotes (10 hrs): Three point mapping, linkage analysis and mapping in haploid organisms - Sex determination and sex chromosomes (8 hrs): X-linked genes, sex limited genes, sex-influence genes, expression of X-linked genes in mammals and other organisms - Chromosome mutations (8 hrs): Variation in chromosome number and arrangement - DNA structure and analysis - Gene function and regulation (7 hrs) - Mutations and repair - Gene function and regulation (10 hrs) - Extranuclear Inheritance (3 hrs) - Quantitative Genetics (3 hrs) - Genetics of populations (4 hrs): Populations and gene pools. The Hardy-Weinberg law. Natural selection.

1-3. Mendelian Inheritance in Drosophila melanogaster (use of linked or unlinked genes). Discuss and statistically evaluate F1 and F2 results - 4. Recording and explaining independent assortment and the effects of gene interactions (epistasis) with cobs of Zea mays - 5-7. UV-mutagenesis of bacteria (Escherichia coli) and fungi (Aspergillus nidulans).  Use of wild-type and mutant strains for the understanding of viability/lethality, mutagenesis and DNA repair - 8. Study antimicrobial inhibitor resistance and resistance mechanisms in bacteria by using various resistance markers (chromosomal - or plasmid-borne, mobile or non-mobile) - 9. Population Genetics. Simulation experiments to examine gene frequencies and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.