Syllabus

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Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1 hour / session

Recitations: 1 session / week, 1 hour / session

Subject Description

Our objective in this subject is to have you successfully learn the following:

1. What are fundamental principles concerning kinetic and dynamic behavior of biological molecules, biomolecular networks, cells, and cellular systems.
2. How to understand molecular, network, cell, and tissue behavior in terms of mathematical analysis applied to quantitative experimental measurement methods.
3. How to design molecular and cellular biotechnologies based on this understanding.
4. How higher-level physiological function in populations, tissues, and devices can be influenced by genetic, biochemical, and biophysical manipulations at the molecular level.

Background

You will be most effectively prepared to take this subject if you have previously taken the following subjects:

1. 5.07 (Biological Chemistry I) or 7.05 (General Biochemistry);
2. 18.03 (Differential Equations);
3. 20.011J (Statistical Mechanics of Biological Systems).

Homework, Exams, and Grading

Homework sets will be assigned on a weekly basis and must be turned in on the due date to the designated box. No late homeworks will be accepted, no exceptions. The lowest homework grade will be dropped at the end of the term. Working together on problem sets is acceptable, but each student is expected to turn in his/her own work. Names of people working together must be written on each assignment.

There will be 3 exams, each covering approximately 1/3 of the subject material periodically across the Semester. Final grades will be based on the following distribution:

Textbooks

Lauffenburger, Douglas A., and Jennifer Linderman. Models for Binding, Trafficking, and Signaling. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1995. ISBN: 9780195106633.

Tidor, Bruce, and K. Dane Wittrup. Biological Kinetics.