Sept.   6           Course Introduction

Sept. 13           Review Paper 1: Dent, E.W., Tang, F. and Kalil, K. (2003).  Axon guidance by growth cones and branches: Common cytoskeletal and signaling Mechanisms.  The Neuroscientist 9(5):343-353.

                           Web link to a brief video on mercury and axons: http://commons.ucalgary.ca/mercury/

                           Topic Paper 1:  Leong, C.C.W., Syed, N.I., and Lorscheider, F.L. (2001).  Retrograde degeneration of neurite membrane structural integrity of nerve growth cones following in vitro exposure to mercury.  Membrane Biophysics and Biochemistry 12(4):733-737.

                       Summary/Critique for Topic Paper 1 due at the beginning of class (Sept. 13)
                       Tutorial Presenter:  Ken A.            
                       Review Paper Presenter:  Tommy B.                 Lauren P.
                       Topic Paper Presenter:  Molly B.                         Yuwen W.

Sept. 20     Speaker 1:  Dr. Douglas A. Currie, Bioscience Research Institute, University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine.  Seminar Title:  “What is in the water?  Arsenic disruption of neuronal development.”     

Sept. 27     Review Paper 2: Cremesti, A.E., Goni, F.M., and Kolesnick, R.  (2002).  Role of sphingomyelinase and ceramide in modulating rafts: do biophysical properties determine biologic outcome?  FEBS Letters 531:47-53

                     Topic Paper 2: Lecour, S., Smith, R.M., Woodward, B., Opie, L.H., Rochette, L., and Sack, M.N.  (2002).  Identification of a novel role for sphingolipid signaling in TNF alpha and ischemic preconditioning mediated cardioprotection. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 2002 May; 34(5):509-18

                     Summary/Critique for Topic Paper 2 due at the beginning of class (Sept. 27)

                     Topic Question, funding agency and format instructions are due for mini-grant proposal

                      Tutorial Presenter:  Jason G.                 Caroline B.
                      Review Paper Presenter:  Andrew P.           Ann S.                    
                      Topic Paper Presenter:  Zach R.                   Vincent R.

Oct.   4            Speaker 2:  Dr. Ilka Pinz, Center for Molecular Medicine, Maine Medical Center Research Institute, Portland, Maine.  Seminar Title:  “Obesity and cardiomyopathy:  Palmitate induced systolic dysfunction in the mouse heart is prevented by low TNFa overexpression."

Oct. 11               Mini-grant assignment check and “How do scientists receive funding for their work?”

                            Refined hypothesis and annotated bibliography are due for mini-grant proposal.

                        NIH Tutorial Presenter:  Jonathan B.               Taisy C.
                        NSF Tutorial Presenter:  Brook M.                   Taegan M.
                        NGO Tutorial Presenter:                                      Andrew K.

Oct. 18          No Class – Fall Break

Oct. 25          Review Paper 3:  Yund, P.O. (2000).  How severe is sperm limitation in natural populations of marine free-spawners? TREE 15(1): 10-13.

                       Topic Paper 3:  Yund, P.O., and Meidel, S.K. (2003).  Sea urchin spawning in benthic boundary layers: Are eggs fertilized before advecting away from females? Limnol. Oceanogr. 48(2): 795-801.

                       Summary/Critique for Topic Paper 3 due at the beginning of class (Oct. 25)

                       Tutorial Presenter:  Ariane W.               James L.                      
                       Review Paper Presenter:  Alida O.      Christine W. 
                      Topic Paper Presenter:  Gabriela M.    Laura G.

Nov.   1           Speaker 3:  Dr. Phil Yund, Director Marine Science Center, University of New England, Biddeford, Maine.  Seminar Title:  “Sex in the sea:  Is fertilization in sea urchins limited by sperm availability?”           

Nov.   8           Review Paper 4:  Lindvall, O. and Kokaia, Z. (2006).  Stem cells for the treatment of neurological disorders.  Nature 441:1094-1096.

                               Brief article connecting Lee Silver to Topic Paper: “Raising Beast People” by Lee M. Silver (7/23/2006) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13989043/site/newsweek/

                             Topic Paper 4:  Muotri, A.R., Nakashima, K., Toni, N., Sandler, V.M., and Gage, F.H. (2005).  Development of functional human embryonic stem cell-derived neurons in mouse brain.  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102(51):18644-18648.

                             Summary/Critique for Topic Paper 4 due at the beginning of class (Nov. 8).

                            Tutorial Presenter:  Peter S.                      
                            Review Paper Presenter:  Daniel F.                   Dylan A.
                            Topic Paper Presenter:  Michael C.                   Tinsley I.

                            Speaker:  Dr. Lee Silver, Professor of Molecular Biology and Public Affairs, Princeton University.  Seminar Title:  “Challenging nature:  The clash of science and spirituality at the new frontiers of life.”

Nov. 15             Mini-grant rough draft due and handed our for anonymous peer review.  Individual mini-grant assignment help sessions.

Nov. 22           No Class – Thanksgiving Holiday.

Nov. 29           Mini-grant peer reviews are due.  Student Mini-grant oral presentations.           

Dec.   6            All written mini-grant proposals are due.  Student Mini-grant oral presentations.

Overview of Course Requirements.  Four speakers are scheduled for this semester.  All students must attend all seminars (4:10-5:30^pm on Sept. 20, Oct. 4, Nov. 1, and 7:00-8:30^pm on Nov. 8).  Each speaker has provided two scientific papers that will be read by all students.  The first paper is a review paper that will provide context and give some of the necessary background to better understand the speaker’s research.  The second paper is more closely related to the topic of the speaker’s seminar.  Each student will write a summary/critique for three of the four “topic” papers of the semester.  Each student will also give a 20-minute presentation.  Presentations will either be “tutorial” or journal-club format and will be assigned on the first day of class.  Once presentation assignments are made, the topics and dates will not change.  The final assignment of the course is a semester-long project in which students write and present a mini-grant proposal in an area of biological science most relevant to their interests.  Lastly, attendance and participation are expected, essential to the success of the course, and will be considered in the final grade determination.

Topic Paper Summary/Critique Assignments.  Students will work individually to prepare summary and critique assignments for three of the semester’s four topic papers.  The summary and critiques will be approximately 2-pages long, double-spaced, and will report the main conclusions, results and methods on which the conclusions are based, and an overall assessment of the logic and quality of the research supported by specific examples from the paper.  In writing the summary, you must not simply steal phrases from the paper.  That would be plagiarism!  Rather, extract the nuggets of information and put them into your own words.  I highly recommend going to the Writing Workshop and seeing me if you have any questions.

In addition to the summary/critique, on its own piece of paper, list 5-10 vocabulary words used in the research topic paper that are new to you and give at least one question you would like to ask the speaker about his/her research when he/she visits Bates.

Summary/Critique and the vocabulary and speaker question assignments are due at the beginning of class one week before the speaker visits Bates (Sept. 13, Sept. 27, Oct. 25) for the three “normal” speakers and on the day of the seminar for the College Lecture Speaker (Nov. 8^th).  You choose which three of the four speakers to complete the assignment.

Presentations.  Twenty-minute PowerPoint presentations will be given individually; however, students presenting the tutorial, review and topic papers for a given speaker will need to coordinate their presentations to avoid duplication of material.  The topic presentations will concentrate on presenting the most important methods and results of the topic paper.  The review presentation will present some material from the review paper and will bridge the material in the tutorial presentation to the very specific experiments and conclusions of the topic paper.  The tutorial presentations should give general background about the field of science and the biology of the topic as well as basic biological principles from the discipline of the speaker (concentrating on information that will help your classmates better understanding of the information given in the review papers, topic papers and seminars).

Mini-grant proposal.  Detailed instructions for the mini-grant proposal will be given the first day of class (W Sept. 6^th).  As outlined in the assignment instructions, portions of the written mini-grant proposal (e.g. topic, funding organization, refined hypothesis, annotated bibliography, rough draft, and peer review) will be due throughout the semester.  The mini-grant proposal also requires a 10-minute oral presentation to the class during the last two weeks of the semester.  The final written mini-grant proposal is due the last day of class on Dec. 6^th.

Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct is Unacceptable

It is the responsibility of each student to read and understand the Bates College Statement on Plagiarism (published as a handbook and distributed to all incoming students) and the Bates College Code of Student Conduct (http://www.bates.edu/x35306.xml).  Intellectual honesty is of paramount importance in your education and in maintaining the free and open intellectual life of the college.  If you do not fully understand what constitutes plagiarism, please see me and check out the Bates College Website on plagiarism: (http://abacus.bates.edu/pubs/Plagiarism/plagiarism.html).  Individuals or groups committing plagiarism or other academic misconduct will receive no credit for the work in question, may fail the course and will be referred to the Dean of Students for disciplinary action by the College.