Download d. Method Delivery: Lectures, assignments, tutorials and practicals

ELEMENTARY GENETICS (Level 1, 3 CU)
a. Brief Course Description
The course introduces students to the basic principles of classical genetics and inheritance as espoused by
Mendel. It helps to build the foundations that will enable students to understand and apply genetic
principles in advanced undergraduate and postgraduate studies. The course content logically builds on the
biological foundation acquired from high school.
b. Course Objectives
The objectives of the course are:
At the end of the course, students should be able to:
 Compare and contrast Pre-Mendelian and Mendelian theories of inheritance and apply Mendel’s first
and second laws of inheritance to solve related genetic problems
 Explain the different factors that can cause deviations from expected patterns of Mendelian
Inheritance
 Map genes on chromosomes basing on recombination frequencies between them
 Discuss the different factors that are responsible for sex determination in plants and animals and
differentiate between the different patterns of inheritance related to sex
 Explain causes of sex abnormalities in man and enumerate symptoms associated with each
abnormality
 Discuss the different types, causes and consequences of Mutations
c. Detailed Course Description
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Pre-Mendelian genetics (1 hrs)
o Pre-Mendelian theories of inheritance
o strengths and weaknesses of the different theories
Introduction to Mendelian genetics
(3 hrs)
o Brief biography of Gregor Mendel
o Survey of characteristics of a good genetic organism
o Advantages of garden peas over other species as genetic organisms
o Reasons for Mendel’s success in breeding genetics
o Outline if Mendel’s classic breeding experiments and his results
o Mendel’s Monohybrid crosses and formulation of his first law of inheritance
o Reciprocal and test crosses
Modifications of Mendelian monohybrid ratios (2 hrs)
o Incomplete dominance
o Co-dominance
o Lethal genes
o Multiple alleles
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o Cytoplasmic inheritance
o Pleiotropy
Dihybrid inheritance (3 hrs)
o Definition of dihybrid inheritance
o Description of Mendel’s dihybrid crosses
o Introduction to probability concepts as they relate to predicting outcomes of dihybrid
crosses
o The Punnett square method
o The concept of Independent assortment
o Mendel’s second law of inheritance
o The dihybrid test cross
Modifications of Mendelian dihybrid genotypic and phenotypic ratios (3 hrs)
o Incomplete dominance
o Co-dominance
o Lethal genes
o Epistasis
o Reciprocal gene interaction
Multiple Allelic inheritance
(3 hrs)
o Coat colour inheritance in Rabbits
o ABO blood groups in man
o Practical applications of blood group typing
o Rhesus factor inheritance and its implications
o ABO blood group system and disease susceptibility
o Inheritance of self-incompatibility alleles in plants
Gene linkage (2 hrs)
o concept of linkage
o Types of linkage
o Crossing over: detection, advantages and disadvantages
Gene mapping (3 hrs)
o Recombination frequencies/Cross over values
o Triangulation method of determining gene order
o Factors affecting recombination frequencies between genes
Sex determination in Plants and animals (3 hrs)
o Environmental sex determination
o Disadvantages of environmental sex determination
o Genetic sex determination
o Abnormalities of sex determination and their symptoms
o Chromosomal non-disjunction
Inheritance related to sex (3 hrs)
o Sex influenced characteristics
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o Sex limited characteristics
o Holandric characteristics
o Sex linked characteristics
o Pedigree analysis
Mutations (4 hrs)
o Definition and classification of Mutations
o Causes of Mutations
o Types of mutagens
o Gene Mutations
o Frame shift and non-frame shift mutations
o Chromosome mutations
o Aneuploidy and Euploidy
Practicals: 30 hrs
d. Method Delivery: Lectures, assignments, tutorials and practicals
Assessment:
Examination (60%), practicals and tests (40%)