Life Science 4

Introduction to Genetics
Fall 2014
Instructor: Hung Dinh Pham, Ph.D.
E-mail: hdpham@ucla.edu
Office Hours: T 9:30-10:30am, T 2-3pm, R 10:30-11:30a, and R 3-4pm in LS 3326
Instructor Contact Information
Please put LS4 STUDENT in the subject heading of all e-mails. E-mails without this subject heading
will be deleted. NOTE: E-mail is not an appropriate medium for long, technical questionssave those
types of questions for discussion section and office hours.
Course Objective:
In this course, we cover a variety of topics relevant to the study of genetics, ranging from Mendelian
genetics to medical genetics, from bacterial and viral genetics to human genetics, and include studies
on molecular techniques and their applications.
General Information:
Course Materials
Required Text: Genetics: From Genes to Genomes, Fourth Edition by Hartwell et. al.
(2011).
Optional Materials: Study Guide/Solutions Manual and Interactive Genetics CD-ROM and
Handbook, UCLA, L. Johnson & J. Merriam.
Lectures
Lectures cover all of the primary course material. They should focus your reading and studying.
Lecture slides will be posted on the course website. Assigned readings and problems for each chapter
will be listed on the lecture slides. Lectures will be webcasted at http://www.bruincast.ucla.edu/. If
you have access problems, please contact Bruincast at: bruincasthelp@ucla.edu.
Course website
You can access the course website through your MyUCLA or the Registrars pages. Course
information such as the syllabus, class announcements, office hours, additional problem sets and
answer keys will be posted on the site. Lecture slides will be posted in PDF format.
Class participation
Class participation will be counted from Week 3. A clicker (iclicker2) is required for class
participation. You must bring your clicker to every lecture. Your four lowest scores will be dropped.
However, this also means that I will not accept any form of excuse (forgotten or malfunctioning clicker)
for another missed lecture.

Administrative Issues
Life Sciences Core Education Office
Hershey Hall, Room 222
(310) 825-6614
For enrollment questions, you may contact this office listed above by email (lscore@lifesci.ucla.edu). If
you miss class and have documentation for your absence, you may contact Jen Weill
(jweill@lifesci.ucla.edu) in the Life Sciences Core Education Office. Documentation must be submitted
within 7 days of the absence.
Discussion sections
Discussion sections meet once a week.
Teaching assistants (TAs) lead the discussion sections. They are responsible for clarifying
important points from the lectures/readings and for answering any questions you may have
about the course material. In addition TAs will help solve assigned problems.
You must attend your assigned discussion section unless you have made other arrangements
in advance with your TA and the TA of the session you would like to attend. This is a fast-paced
course that covers a lot of material in a very short time. It is the responsibility of the student to
keep up with the pace by doing all the readings and solving all assigned problems.
Be active and participate in class discussions. Ask questions if a point is unclear. It helps to
work together to help each other solve the problem sets.
Each TA will have two hours of Office Hours per week. You are welcome to go to the office
hours of any of the TAs, but note that TAs will give priority to students from their own
sections. Times and locations for TAs office hours will be posted on the course website.
TA Contact Information
Please put LS4 STUDENT in the subject heading of all e-mails.
Hanjun Kim: hkim11@ucla.edu
Catharine Krebs: catharinekrebs@ucla.edu
Julia Lipianskya: jlipianskaya@ucla.edu
Ao Liu: aoliu@ucla.edu
Anna Sahakyan: asahakyan@ucla.edu
Kevin Wang: kcj.wang89@gmail.com
Exams
Exam questions will be drawn from the lectures, assigned readings, and assigned problems.
The exam will be closed book and include genetic problems and short essays.
You must take exams at the scheduled times.
Make-up policy: No make-up exams will be given. If you are unable to take an exam due to
illness or other emergency, you are responsible for contacting the Life Sciences Core Education
Office. You are required to have written verification regarding your illness or emergency.
Documentation must be submitted within 7 days of the absence.

Final Exam scheduling: You must take the final at its scheduled time, even if another class
has an exam scheduled at the same time. Please check your calendars now to make sure that
you dont have conflicts. Because this is a large class, any conflict must be resolved by your
other class. If you cannot get accommodation from your other instructor, you should withdraw
one of the classes with the exam conflict.
Grading:
Your grade in this course will be determined as follows:
Midterm 1
(Monday, November 03, 2014, 7-8:50pm)
Midterm 2
(Monday, November 24, 2014, 7-8:50pm)
Final Exam
(Monday, December 15, 2014, 6:30-9:30pm)
Class participation
(Wk.3-10)
Your four lowest scores will be dropped.
Discussion Quizzes (Wk.3-10*)
Your lowest quiz score will be dropped.
TOTAL

= 100 points
= 100 points
= 200 points
= 10 points
= 30 points
= 440 points

Letter grades are established from a normal curve of total points following standard UCLA
guidelines. The distribution varies from year to year, but in general at least the top 15% have received
A+, A, or A-, and next 30% received B+, B, or B-.
Regrading Policy:
Oral arguments will not be considered. If you feel that there has been an error during the grading of
your exam:
1. Type a note on a separate piece of paper explaining the error. Attach that note to the front
of the exam.
2. Turn in your exam with the note to your TA within one week of the date the graded exams
were returned.
3. Keep a photocopy of the exam for your own records and for studying.
4. These exams will be re-graded ASAP. During this process the entire exam will be
reevaluated to look for errors. Thus, your score may increase or decrease.
5. The exam will be returned to you at the final exam.
Class

Expectations:
Be courteous and on time.
Silence cell phones and other electronic devices. Do not answer the phone during class.
Discussion is welcomed during lecture, so please feel free to ask any questions, seek
clarification, etc. If you need extra help or if we are pressed for time during class, please see me
during office hours.
The reading and work for this class should be taken seriously. All readings and problems
assigned are your responsibility to complete. No homework will be collected and no additional
quizzes will be given.

Tentative Course Outline with Assigned Chapter Readings

Fall 2014
Date

Topic

Chapters, 4th Ed.

R 10/02

Introduction and Mendelian Genetics

1&2

T 10/07
R 10/09

Human Pedigrees
Extensions of Mendelian Genetics

2
3

T 10/14
R 10/16

Mitosis and Meiosis

Linkage and Recombination I

4
5

T 10/21
R 10/23

Linkage and Recombination II

Bacterial Genetics I

5
14

T 10/28
R 10/30

Bacterial Genetics II
Bacteriophage Genetics

14
14

M 11/03
T 11/04
R 11/06

Midterm I (7-8:50pm)
The rII locus
One gene One enzyme

7
7

T 11/11
R 11/13

Veterans Day holiday

Gene Expression I

T 11/18
R 11/20

Gene Expression II
Gene Regulation in Prokaryotes

8
15

M 11/24
T 11/25
R 11/27

Midterm II (7-8:50pm)
Recombinant DNA
Thanksgiving holiday

T 12/02
R 12/04

Population Genetics I
Population Genetics II

19
19

10

T 12/09
R 12/11

Cancer
Human Genetics

17
TBA

M 12/15

Final Exam (6:30-9:30pm)

Week