Cancer Biology

Catalog description

This course will cover basic concepts of Cancer Biology on a cellular and molecular level. Topics such as mutation, transformation, and the two-hit hypothesis will be integrated throughout the course, as well as the 10 hallmarks of cancer. Advances in modern molecular biology are consistently shaping our understanding of cancer cells and, as such, students will be required to read and analyze recent publications in the field. We will also be studying principles of cancer biology in the laboratory. Students will learn how to culture normal and transformed cell lines and recognize the differences between them. We will also be utilizing techniques in molecular biology to sequence putative cancer genes from cancer cells and identify mutations. It is expected that this is the first course in cancer or cell biology that students will have taken, however, a good understanding of cellular and molecular biology is a prerequisite.