| WEEK # | TOPICS | KEY DATES |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction of Instructor and Students Overview and Discussion of the Syllabus Aim of the Course How to Read a Scientific Paper Literature and Database Searching Introduction to Next Week's Topic | |
| Part I: Defense Mechanisms Developed by Unicellular Organisms | ||
| 2 | Recognition of Foreign Nucleic Acids The Restriction/Modification (R-M) System | |
| 3 | Recognition of Foreign Nucleic Acids RNAi | |
| 4 | Anti-microbial Peptides | |
| 5 | Altruistic Death | |
| Part II: The Transition to Multi-Cellularity Resulted in Cell Specialization | ||
| 6 | How are pathogens recognized by multi-cellular organisms? Pattern Recognition and Missing Self | Assignment 1 due |
| 7 | How do multi-cellular organisms destroy pathogens? Phagocytosis | |
| 8 | How do multi-cellular organisms destroy pathogens? Complement and Reactive Oxygen | |
| Part III: An Evolutionary Milestone: The Origin of an Adaptive Immune System | ||
| 9 | Receptors of the Adaptive Immune System Antigen Recognition by Cells of the Adaptive Immune System Involves the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) | |
| 10 | Clonal Selection and Immunological Memory | |
| 11 | How does the adaptive immune system interact with the innate immune system? | |
| 12 | Change or Die | |
| 13 | Student Oral Presentations Course Evaluations | Assignment 2 due |