Biology 395-02: Advanced Animal Development
Spring 2002

Course Instructor: Vida Praitis
Email: praitis@grinnell.edu
Office: 1203
Phone: X4390
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Class Assignments

Class Presentations:

Each week, two students will provide background for the weekly reading. Preparation for these presentations should involve careful reading of the primary paper, reviews, textbook assignments, and additional primary sources. Students presenting will be expected to be “experts” in the area under discussion. Use of visual aids, where necessary for clarification of complex principles, is encouraged.

Background for each topic should include a brief history of the topic.

• What has been established by previous work?
• What data supports the current hypotheses?
• What aspects of the topic are unknown?
• What about the topic is subject to debate?
• Describe the techniques used in the paper.

Evaluation of the primary literature should include:

1. Paper introduction/background:
   What does the current paper attempt to do?
   How does that fit into previous ideas about the topic?
2. We will discuss each figure/experiment in detail.
   What techniques are used?
   What are the experimental results?
   What are the controls? Are they appropriate?
   What are the findings of the experiment?
   What are the limitations of the experiment?
   
3. Paper Discussion:
   How does the paper change our ideas about the subject?
   Is the model/conclusion supported by the data?
   
4. What are the next experiments to do?
   How would you do them?
   What are the unanswered questions?

Class Participation:

Each student is expected to come to class prepared to discuss the topic in depth. Preparation should include a careful reading of review, textbook assignments, and the primary source literature. We will be discussing each paper in great detail, with emphasis on the experimental approach and data analysis (see above).

Weekly Writing Assignments (14):

Due in Class each week.
Each week, write a succinct (1 page) summary of the weekly reading assignment. The paper should include critical analysis of the data, insight into the model, suggestions for additional experiments or controls, etc. Late weekly writing assignments are docked one grade per day.

• Your lowest grade for class participation and for weekly writing assignments will be discarded at the end of the term.

In depth papers (2):

Over the course of the semester, two longer papers (7-10 pages) will be required. These papers should include an in-depth critical discussion of the topic, drawing from sources in the primary literature.

Paper 1: Change in developmental timing, or heterochrony (see Gilbert, p. 554-6, p. 694), is an important evolutionary mechanism because it can readily create changes in morphology. (Both plants and animals have juvenile stages). How does an organism keep time? How does an organism know it is time to progress through metamorphosis, puberty, or to develop specific body parts? Identify a paper from the primary literature that characterizes a gene and/or proteins that play a role in developmental timing of a plant or animal. Write a 7-10 page review paper that briefly addresses each of the questions outlined above. Include a few paragraphs about the background of the subject, a discussion of the findings of the research paper, and a description of the next experiments to do.

For those interested, I will give comments on a draft of your paper. (The draft should already be a good paper, similar to what you would turn in as a final paper).

• Draft Due Date (optional): (Monday 2/11 – 5 pm in my office)
• Final Due Date: (Monday 2/25 – 5 pm in my office)

Paper 2: b-catenin plays a critical role in both cell-cell adhesion and signal transduction (as part of the Wnt signaling pathway). However, there is debate in the literature about whether these two roles for b-catenin are related to each other (ie, signaling occurs as a consequence of changes in cell adhesion) or completely separate. Using sources from the primary literature, describe the evidence for and against the idea the two roles are integrated, and signaling by B-catenin occurs due to changes in cell adhesion.

This paper will be “peer reviewed” by one of your classmates. Please be considerate to your peers. Turn in a “final” version of your paper. You will then re-write the paper based on the comments you receive.

• Initial Due Date: (Monday 3/11 – 5 pm in my office)
• Peer Review Return: (Monday 4/8)
• Final Paper Due: (Monday 4/22 – 5 pm in my office)

Final Paper: Due (Thursday 5/16 – 5 pm in my office): To Be Announced.

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Modification date: 17-Jan-2002
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