CORONA VIRUS INFORMATION:  This section will be updated continuously as the situation evolves.

• As the situation currently stands, BIO442 will be given entirely on campus

Course information, Evolutionary Genomics, BIO 442

Course leader: Jonas Warringer

Subject overview: Evolutionary genomics studies how and why the entirety of an organisms’ heritable material, the genome, changes both within and between species across generations. Evolutionary genomics is closely linked to population genetics, molecular evolution, phylogeny and genome evolution which all are subjects in the course.  Population genetics deals with genome differences within and between populations and the driving forces behind this variation. Studies in this branch of biology examine such phenomena as adaptation, speciation, and population structure.  Molecular evolution studies the process of small scale change in the sequence composition of DNA, RNA and proteins across generations.  Major topics  concern the rates and impacts of single nucleotide changes, neutral vs adaptive evolution, origins of new genes and the genetic basis of speciation. Phylogeny is the study of the evolutionary relationships among  cells,  individuals or species based upon  differences in their characteristics, often in their genome.  Genome evolution seeks to understand  changes to genomes that affect their size, structure, composition or organization and asks question such as "Why are some genomes bigger than others?". Studying Evolutionary genomics involves identifying and analyzing millions or billions of DNA variants and requires the use of bioinformatic methods, which combines biology, computer science, information engineering, mathematics and statistics to analyze and interpret biological data. Evolutionary genomics is central in evolutionary biology and genetics, as changes to genomes is the main process behind heritable change to organisms and natural variation. Modern medicine relies on understanding genome evolution as it contributes to the susceptibility to and penetrance of disease and the success of treatments. Cancer and infection in particular are evolutionary diseases and addressing them requires understanding how and why human and microbial genomes evolve over time. 

Course overview

In Evolutionary Genomics, BIO442, (15 credit points) we aim to prepare students for careers in Evolutionary biology, Genetics, Microbiology, Cancer biology and Bioinformatics by giving them a deeper understanding of genomes and how and why they change over time and space. The course starts with the causes and forms of  nucleotide variation, continues with genetic relationships and phylogeny, genomics of macroevolution and evolutionary networks, and ends with structural variation, evolution by genetic tinkering and genome evolution. 

Teaching

The teaching consists of lectures, oral article presentations, computers labs, problem solving sessions, and a written exam.

The a) article presentations b) computer labs c) problem solving sessions (Canvas Quizzes) and d) the written exam are obligatory.

The teaching material includes: handouts, lecture notes, links to online sources, practise problems, primary articles, review articles and a course book:

Please observe the following

• A good handle of the English language is required
• A basic understanding of Genetics is required 
• Evolutionary Genomics involves the use computers and basic computational biology
• All Sciences rests on a mathematical foundation - but Genome Science more so than some other branches of biology. 

Course literature

Molecular and Genome Evolution, 1st edition, Dan Graur, Sinauer Associates (imprint of Oxford University Press)

• Order the book in good time
• Briefly look through the book before the course starts
• Read the introduction and chapter 1 before the course starts - this is background that you are expected to be familiar with

Homepage

The syllabus is open to the public before the course starts. Once the course has started, participants in the course will be given access to other parts of the homepage, organized under "pages" in the left menu.

Updated information on the schedule is here: Schedules

A preliminary schedule is here: Schedule BIO442 VT 2022 v.1.xlsx

Information on the lectures is here: Lectures

Information on the course plan is here: Course plan 

Information on the article presentations is here: Article presentations 

Information on the exams, including old exams, is here: Exams 

More information

For more information or questions concerning admittance, please contact the student administration (e.g. 031-7862524, education@biology.gu.se).

For other questions relating to the course, contact:

Docent Jonas Warringer

Institutionen för Kemi- och Molekylärbiologi (KMB)

Box 462

SE 405 30 Göteborg

Tel. 031 - 786 25 74; e-mail: jonas.warringer@cmb.gu.se