In recent years is has become possible for the first time to view the complete genetic information of an organism. The field, genomics, is revolutionary and will have far- reaching consequences in biology and health related areas. This module intends to cover this fast moving, important field of molecular biology, examining the technology behind it, the rationale and motivation behind the numerous large scale genome sequencing projects, the progress to date, the organisation and structure of genomes, genome projects completed to date, interpreting genomic sequences, bioinformatics, understanding genomes and functional genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics. The value and potential application of sequence information with emphasis on the human genome and genomes of organisms involved in disease.

The module is delivered entirely in Blackboard as nine activities over nine weeks.
Directed independent problem-solving/tasks, to include distributed learning material, guided reading and completion of assessment tasks will occupy the students' time. The activities will guide extensive independent and directed study by the student. A key text will provide the basic structure and fundamental aspects of the course and the activities will develop depth from this basic background through exploration of the numerous web-sites associated with genomics.
Assessment will be by the submission of three pieces of work related to the activities.

Summative:- Coursework 50% and exam 50% distributed as follows:

- 3 hour examination (1, 2, 4, 5, 6) 50%
- Portfolio of bioinformatic work - a report on web-based activities involving the analysis of DNA sequences and navigating genomic data (2,3) 50%.

Full details of assessment are provided in the module handbook

Formative feedback will be given over the portfolio of tasks associated with the module topics. Discussion between students will be encouraged allowing peer and tutor feedback to be given.

The key text is:-
S. B. Primrose & R.M Twyman (2003). "Principles of Genome Analysis 3rd edition" Blackwell Science. ISBN 1-40510-120-2

You may also find the following texts useful

T.A. Brown (2006) "Genomes 3" Garland Science. ISBN 10-0815341385

C.Dennis & R. Gallagher (2001). The Human Genome. Palgrave. ISBN 0-333-97143-4.

Alberts, B., Johnson, A., Lewis, J., Raff, M., Robrts, K., Walter, P. (2008). Molecular Biology of the Cell, 5th edition. Garland Science. ISBN 978-0-8153-4106-2

PCs with access to the internet, to access genomic databases and analytical programs.
Access to library resources including BIDS, Athens etc.