BIOL 533 – Gene Regulation

This course aims to develop a genome perspective on transcriptional gene regulation. The genome sequence, now completed in a number of organisms, is described as a blueprint for development. More than simply a parts list (i.e., genes), this blueprint is an instruction manual as well (i.e., regulatory code). A next critical phase of the genome project is understanding the genetic and epigenetic regulatory codes that operate during development. Through a combination of lectures and discussion of primary literature, this course will explore current topics on promoters and transcription factors, chromatin structure, regulatory RNA, chromosomal regulatory domains, and genetic regulatory networks. We will discuss various “Omics” tools, and in particular, sequencing-based strategies that provide information about the transcriptome and epigenome. We will also discuss current models on how transcriptional regimes unfold during the activation (or silencing) of genes, and how these processes become disrupted in various diseases. Finally, we will consider stochastic attributes of gene regulation that challenge “all or nothing” perspectives on cellular states (e.g., perspectives that genes are either “on” or “off,” or that cells are either “differentiated” or not). An overarching theme is how genomes encode and execute regulatory programs in response to environmental and developmental cues.