Module: 2
Sponsoring Program: BMS
Administrator: Priscilla Pereira

STUDY LIST INFORMATION
Course Number: BMS 270/DSCB 270
Course Name: Epigenetics and chromatin structure in development and disease
Units: 3
Grading Option: S/U
Course Director: Yin Shen

MORE COURSE INFORMATION
Other faculty: Elphege Nora, Dan Lim 
Dates: April 18-May 6
Campus: PH
Room: CS-1107-1108
Schedule: MWF 10:00-12:00
Maximum Class Size: 12


Course Description: This course will cover latest insights into the nature of epigenetic gene regulation and its role in normal development, reprogramming, and disease. Topics will include the role of DNA methylation, histone modifications, chromatin remodeling, cis-regulatory elements, higher-order chromatin structure, and non-coding RNAs in genome defense, cellular differentiation, reprogramming and disease. The course will involve the reading and discussion of recent select seminal papers in the field.  For each class meeting, the instructors will provide approximately 30 minutes of background, and then the papers (1 per session) will be discussed as a group. Course instructions:  Each article that we plan to discuss will be posted in advance of each class.  All students will need to read the article before the class meets.  Each article will be presented by a “team” of two students who will start the discussion with 2-3 slides describing the rationale and major scientific questions addressed by the paper.  This student team will then go around the table, asking their student colleagues to present individual figures and summarize the key findings.  The presenting faculty will be available to provide additional comments and interpretations.  Each class will conclude with a roundtable discussion of the paper’s major conclusions and their implications for the broader field of epigenetics.