Learn how cells regulate gene expression and how those controls shape development and genome function. Drawing on content from Anthony J. F. Griffiths, John F. Doebley, Susan R. Wessler, Catherine Peichel, David Wassarman, and Sean B. Carroll, authors of Introduction to Genetic Analysis, published by Macmillan Learning, this course connects regulatory mechanisms in bacteria and eukaryotes with developmental genetics and genomics.

You will analyze bacterial regulatory systems, including the lac and arabinose operons, attenuation, bacteriophage life cycles, and alternative sigma factors. You will then examine transcription factors, chromatin remodeling, cytosine methylation, and chromosome organization in eukaryotic gene regulation. Developmental examples from Drosophila show how spatial and post-transcriptional regulation influence biological structures. You will also examine genome sequencing, comparative and functional genomics, and bioinformatics, including applications to human medicine and direct-to-consumer genetic testing. Through readings and practice problems, you will connect regulatory mechanisms with gene-expression patterns and distinguish methods such as ChIP, next-generation sequencing, and RNA-Seq. The course includes approximately eleven and a half hours of learning material and builds on molecular genetics concepts. This course is part of the The Science of Genetic Analysis: From Inheritance to DNA Technology Specialization and can also be taken independently.