Instructors: Iain Drummond and Nanda Nanthakumar (course directors), Andrew Brack, David Langenau, Hanno Hock, Nabeel Bardeesy, Kellee Siegfried, David Mooney (Lecturers)

Overview: The purpose of this class is to teach critical thinking about development and regenerative biology. Student involvement in discussions and critique of published work is the core strength of this course. We prepare students to critically assess the current state of the art in stem cell biology and apply the same approaches to their own research.

Mandatory Organizational Meeting:  Friday 9/2, 2-3 PM, TMEC L-007 Students present at this class will have priority for enrollment. If needed, we will hold a lottery to select the 12 students enrolled in the course. If a student cannot attend, she/he must email Iain Drummond by 5PM Thurs. 9/1. Class meeting location after 9/2

Course Description: This course explores developmental mechanisms that persist throughout the life cycle, examining pluripotency and cell fate restriction in embryos and adult tissues. The course is divided into 3 Units.

• Unit 1 (4 Fridays) will examine general developmental mechanisms that are essential for both tissue formation and self-renewal. Special emphasis will be given to lineage restriction and cell fate determination in embryos.
  
  
• Unit 2 (4 Fridays) will analyze the renewal and repair of specific adult tissues. We will emphasize in vivo approaches to understanding how tissues renew or repair themselves following normal wear or wounding.
  
  
• Unit 3 (4 Fridays) will explore new frontiers of stem cell and regenerative biology. We will cover regeneration in emerging model organisms, cancer stem cells, and bioengineering approaches to regenerative medicine. In the final class, we will discuss general themes from the course content.

Structure of the course: The first class will include an organizational meeting. Each Friday class has two parts, a lecture and a discussion of an original research paper. The lectures are designed to introduce significant topics in development, tissue repair and self-renewal. Paper discussions will highlight major questions and key methodologies. Leaders in the fields of developmental genetics and stem cell biology will lecture and facilitate the discussions. For each class, all students are required to read a review article and original research paper. A student will introduce the paper and lead the discussion to build upon the previous week’s lecture. At the end of the discussion, the class will generate a list of potential research directions and questions.

There are no exams. Students will be evaluated by their preparation and participation in each class (40%), presentation of discussion paper (30%), and one written assignment (30%). The written assignment is a five-page mini-proposal that addresses an outstanding question in stem cell biology derived from the class discussions or your own personal interest. The proposal must include the basic elements of any research proposal: introduction to the question, its broader significance, a hypothesis to answer the question, and experiments to test that hypothesis, using appropriate methodologies. Alternative approaches and interpretation of potential results should also be included. The structure of this assignment is similar to a PQE proposal and is designed to help students in preparing for their PQE and future grant writing.

Prerequisite: Upper division Cell Biology, Genetics, or Developmental Biology.

Enrollment: Limited to 12.

Half course (fall term). Fridays, 2–5pm.

Mandatory Organizational Meeting:  Friday 9/2, 2-3 PM, TMEC L-007
Students present at this class will have priority for enrollment. If needed, we will hold a lottery to select the 12 students enrolled in the course. If a student cannot attend, she/he must email Iain Drummond by 5PM Thurs. 9/1.

Class meeting location after 9/2