GENERAL BIOLOGY
Academic year and teacher
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2022/2023
- Teacher
- PAOLA RIZZO
- Credits
- 6
- Didactic period
- Primo Semestre
- SSD
- BIO/13
Training objectives
- The course in General Biology provides the basic information about the general principles of life sciences.
The main educational purposes of the course are the following:
• knowledge of chemical fundaments of life
• knowledge of cell structure and function
• knowledge of the basic mechanisms of transmission of the genetic information and gene expression
• basic knowledge of the classification of living organisms and of the most relevant model organisms in biotechnology and biomedicine Prerequisites
- No formal preparatory courses are required, but the student must have acquired the basic knowledge provided in any senior high school course in Biology.
Course programme
- The organization of living organisms at the level of biological macromolecules (carbohydrates, amino acids and proteins, nucleotides and nucleic acids) and lipids. Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes. DNA and RNA viruses. Evolution of the eukaryotic cell. Classification of living organisms. The prokaryotic cell. Archaeobacteria and Eubacteria. Single-cells eukaryotes: Protists. Mushrooms and Plants. Structure, organization and function of the prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell and organelles. Cell membranes and membrane transport. Intracellular traffic. Energy and metabolism. Energy production in living things. Mitochondria and oxidative phosphorylation. The mitochondrial genome. The genome of the chloroplast. Notes on photosynthesis. DNA structure and replication. Recombinant DNA technology. The transmission of genetic information. Mutations. The genetic code. The transcription. Splicing of RNA. Types of RNA. Ribosomes. Translation and protein synthesis. Cellular communication. Cell cycle. Definition of stem cell. Apoptosis. Mitosis. Meiosis and gametogenesis. Biology of the transformed cell. Biological basis of the diversity of the animal and plant world.
Didactic methods
- The course is composed of 48 hours of lectures, delivered by Power Point and other audiovisual supports such as videos, animations, documents and science papers in pdf.
Learning assessment procedures
- The exam at the end of the course has the purpose to verify the level of acquisition of the educational aims.
For students enrolled in the first year in the academic year 2020-2021, the final exam is a written test consisting of 31 multiple choice questions, graded 1 point each, for a total of 31 points (corresponding to a maximum score of 30/30 magna cum laude). To pass the exam the student must obtain a minimum score of 18 points. If the final score is less than 18 points, the student must repeat the written test.
The exam will evaluate:
-the knowledge of chemical and molecular bases of life:
-the knowledge of structures and functions of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells;
-the knowledge of the basic mechanisms of the transmission of the genetic information and of gene expression;
-the acquisition of the basic knowledge concerning the classification and evolution of living organisms and -the most relevant model organisms in biotechnology and biomedicine. Reference texts
- Autori Vari, a cura di De Leo, Ginelli, e Fasano. Biologia e Genetica, 4a EDIZIONE. Editore EdiSES, Napoli.
Alternatively, after consulting with the teacher, any other updated Biology text, published after 2017.
For more in depth- studies:
B. Alberts, et al. - Biologia molecolare della cellula - Ed. Zanichelli, Bologna
