Class Roster for Spring 2010

Classes for the spring semester started a few weeks ago, and like last semester, my course load is relatively light. I only have two classes, but both are very interesting (to me).

The first class is somewhat of an extension from last semester's Cell Biology class, and is focused on Genetic Regulation (of mostly eukaryotic cells). This is similar to a class I took this time last year as I finished up undergrad (Biochemistry II) which was a molecular biology course focused on nucleic acids, the Central Dogma (regarding transcription and translation), etc. This class will focus more on regulatory mechanisms at all levels, and will hopefully expand my knowledge of cell cycle checkpoints, etc. I am most excited about the content regarding chromatin modifications and epigenetics, since this is really where genetics is moving forward and is already exploding in terms of discovery.

That being said, I am actually even more excited for my other class, which is a cell biology based Immunology class. I haven't taken immunology yet, so I am anticipating this will be a bit harder for me and require more preparation, but I find the content so interesting (and complicated!) that I doubt I will have trouble drumming up the motivation to study. The "suggested" textbook (required for me!) looks to be extremely well put together, and I am already impressed with the way the figures are laid out. After doing a rotation in an HIV lab I quickly discovered that my lack of immunology background would severely cripple me if I were to be serious about doing virology, especially HIV work, so I am really excited about this class.

Both classes meet only twice a week for 1.5 hrs, and the genetics class has a weekly discussion section with TA's where we discuss weekly papers that parallel the course content. I don't have classes on Fridays, and this has proven to be a great breath of fresh air already. Both classes have a midterm in March and a final exam. All in all, not too stressful at the moment. We'll see how things go once exams roll around...