At the end of the course
- The student understands the field of functional genomics, its key terms and concepts, and is able to explain these terms and concepts in a way that demonstrates a correct understanding of the relevant molecular and biological processes and mechanisms
- The student has a good understanding of the experimental approaches that are relevant for research questions on the subject, as shown by the ability to design experiments to address a relevant research question and the ability to explain the possibilities and limitations of specific experimental approaches
- The student is also able to interpret and evaluate experimental results related to this field, as shown by the ability to derive and justify meaningful and legitimate conclusions from experimental data
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To allow students to attain the level of knowledge and understanding described in the course objectives, the lectures will treat the following topics:
• To provide insight in the historical and technology-driven development of the genome sciences, the (recent) technological advances in sequencing will be reviewed (lecture topic: DNA sequencing). Subsequently, our current understanding of the content of the genome (topic: Genome structure) and how we can exploit genomic analyses to improve our understanding of cancer (topic: Cancer genomics) will be discussed
• The molecular mechanisms and networks that regulate the genome constitute another major component of the course (lecture topics: Epigenetics, Chromosomal interactions, Systems biology)
• A third major component of course content concerns high-throughput screens of interactions and functions that help to characterize genes on a genome-wide scale (lecture topics: Yeast Functional Genomics, Genome-wide disease screens)
The Questions & Answers (Q&A) sessions (four times two hours) are designed to provide a deeper insight in each of these topics. To this end the students will study papers that are hyperlinked in the reader, will prepare answers to questions, discuss these answers in small groups, followed by a plenary discussion with teaching staff. The Q&A questions are also meant to prepare for the exam. In addition a practice exam is provided.The Computer Practical complements the students' experience of Functional Genomics and is designed to train and assess students for course objective 3. In this practical experimental genomic data is visualized and analyzed to introduce the students to bioinformatic analyses and to deepen their knowledge and understanding of epigenetics in the context of acute myeloid leukemia.
As part of the practical the students will work with the UCSC genome browser and tools such as TMEV and MotifViz, develop an understanding of what types of genomic data can be analyzed and how the input and output are formatted. The students will develop their critical-thinking, problem-solving and communication skills in the area of genomics and will develop an ability to interpret genomic data, report the results and explain, discuss and justify their conclusions. The computer practical is concluded with a written reflection assignment in which the students evaluate the working hypothesis presented at the beginning of the practical in the light of the experimental data they have analyzed.
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