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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Molecular Biology - Part 2: Transcription and Transposition

Massachusetts Institute of Technology via edX

Overview

In Part 2 of this Molecular Biology course, you’ll explore transcription of DNA to RNA, a key part of the central dogma of biology and the first step of gene expression.

Did you know that transposable elements, the genetic information that can move from location to location, make up roughly 50 % of the human genome? Did you know that scientists have linked their movement into specific genes to the causes of certain diseases? You’ll also learn how these “jumping genes” work and how scientists study them in Molecular Biology: Transcription and Transposition.

Are you ready to go beyond the “what" of scientific information presented in textbooks and explore how scientists deduce the details of these molecular models?

Take a behind-the-scenes look at modern molecular genetics, from the classic experimental events that identified the proteins and elements involved in transcription and transposition to cutting-edge assays that apply the power of genome sequencing. We've designed the problems in this course to build your experimental design and data analysis skills.

Let’s explore the limits of our current knowledge about the transcription machinery and mechanisms of transposition. If you are up for the challenge, join us in 7.28.2x Molecular Biology: Transcription and Transposition.

Syllabus

Week 1 : Machinery and Promoters of Bacterial Transcription

Week 2 : Bacterial Regulation of Bacterial Transcription

Week 3 : Machinery and Promoters of Eukaryotic Transcription

Week 4 : Regulation of Eukaryotic Transcription I

Week 5 : Regulation of Eukaryotic Transcription II

Week 6 : Transposition

Week 7 : CRISPR

Taught by

Tania A. Baker and Stephen P. Bell

Reviews

4.8 rating, based on 40 Class Central reviews

Start your review of Molecular Biology - Part 2: Transcription and Transposition

  • Anonymous
    Another great course from the MITx Bio team. You'll learn about the molecular details of how RNA is produced from DNA in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. The series put a great emphasis on assays, i.e. they explain to you how did they find out what they found out. The last 2 weeks goes into the details how transposition and CRISPR works which are important to understand gene therapy/editing technologies.
    As this is Part 2 of a 3 part series, obviously part 1 is a prerequisite. You'll need to be familiar with the bio and biochem fundamentals (7.00x and 7.05x) in order to be able to keep up with the course.
  • Anonymous
    I am actually just auditing at the moment and completing this review otherwise the course is not allowing me to move on to the next section. However, from everything I have seen and heard from the friends who took it, it looks great for anyone in molecular biology.
  • Anonymous
    A great class with smooth lecturing, nice animations, and challenging problem sets that are directly related to the lab work.
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  • Anonymous
    Excellent course. Prof. Bell is always very clear . The description of the assays gives a good concrete idea of how the research is designed and the quizzes help a lot to understand the experimental scenarios. In my eyes, this course has the power to spark a passion for molecular biology!
  • Eric Smith
    Very good course lots to enjoy. The focus on Quizzes is really good but and sorry there is a but without significant lab experience students will find it more challenging. Experimental design thinking to tackle specific problems isn't really ha…
  • Anonymous
    Wonderful content and engaging quizzes. After reviewing the course content, I'm able to develop an intuition to design experiments and thus proves to be very useful for research studies. I enjoy learning this course!
  • Anonymous
    Having just completed the third quiz in this course, as requested, my review follows:
    I am having a wonderful time. The course is intellectually challenging with great lectures and visual teaching aids. I have approached the courses seriously and believe my knowledge base is being reasonably expanded. In addition to specific factual comprehension, I have developed improved study and learning skills.
    I am a retired physician (MD, 1973). This is my third MITx bio course. Dr. Bell and Dr. Landers are magnificently inspiring lecturers, reminiscent of the best I encountered during formal university years.
  • Peter Mayr- Obitsch Phd ScD
    After completing the first course of DNA Transcription and Repair it was satisfying that this course has the same high quality as well.
    Although I'm performing this after a completely different study due to pure interest without currently existing professional background, it's feasible to succeed if you have at least some basic knowledge about the matter and apply methodical learning procedures.
    Anyway one should have performed the first course mentioned above before.
    The parallel script file is helpful for a non-native speaker like me.
    Summary: Highly recommendable because this matter represents the future - I'm gladly looking forward to the third course after finishing this one.
  • Anonymous
    Best course on transcription ever! The lectures are absolutely perfect, with unmatched quality in both explaining the topics discussed and going into interesting details. I have learned far more from this course than I have even dreamed of. I also indeed enjoined the quizzes in this course, even though, for me, they are usually the most tedious part of the learning process. The authors of the course make the quizzes much more enjoyable by including real-world problems and made-up characters in them.
  • Anonymous
    Similar to the first part of the course. S. Bell is wonderful and the insight I have gained is very encouraging. However, the course is very demanding and challenging (but worthwhile). This course is not an introductory course! Be ready to invest time unless you have excellent grasp on molecular biology. I would recommend this course for experienced junior scientist as well, since this course takes the analysis of experimental data to a next level - everything is under scrutiny.
  • Anonymous
    In this course you go through the details of experiments at the level of publications in Nature. What is most appreciated are the highly professional and respectful answers of the staff (and other learners who often are also professionals in the domain), no matter what is your degree of experience or understanding. It becomes increasingly interesting as you advance, especially because of the filling of the connectedness with the front end research community.
  • Anonymous
    Excellent in-depth course with an emphasis on experimental assays to apply your knowledge of the underlying mechanisms taught in the lectures.

    Occasionally, the effort to make sure students are apply problem-solving skills stretches to a point where a lack of molecular biology lab experience is really what determines your grade. In other words, it is more than knowing your genetics and chemistry. The lectures are thorough, but since the grading relies so heavily on experimental design using assays which receive cursory coverage in the course, you'll need to either research heavily or have hands-on experience.

    Nonetheless, you'll definitely learn in this course!
  • Anonymous
    A very good follow-on to the initial course in this series (728.1x). It's necessary to take these courses in order, but if you do, the problem sets are excellent and tell a continuous story while promoting active learning, not just regurgitation of material. Lectures are clear and full of information, and the discussion boards are helpful for clarifying questions.
  • Anonymous
    I greatly enjoyed the course and look forward to 728.3 I don't have any ideas on improving the course which frankly doesn't need improvement. I would plunge deeper if possible.
  • Anonymous
    So far Prof. Bell has done a great job of explaining the necessary material. This course is interesting and am learning a lot.
  • Profile image for Carl Krasniak
    Carl Krasniak
    Demanding but satisfying. Good use of graphics. Typical MIT problem sets that assume grasp of class presentations and are designed to further explore new concepts. Heavy on analytic techniques and evaluation of lab results.
  • Anonymous
    Yet another excellent biology course from MITx.

    This course is not easy. You can't simply memorize your way through it, instead you need to actually understand the topics in order to be successful with the problem solving required in the quizzes. Reason why I take these courses is that I feel they prepare me for the future challenges, no matter how hard they will be (within reason of course).
  • Anonymous
    I am a high school teacher and I am getting tired just asking my students to memorize these concepts. I was wondering if there is another teaching method which could bind the textbook to the proceeding research and prepare students to be future scientists. When I was watching the introduction of this class, I said to myself, this might be my dream class.
  • Anonymous
    Great opportunity attending real MIT Microbiology Classroom. Rewarding experience as a bystander, sharing State of the art technologies. This course 7.28.2x is very demanding but largely gratifying. Having a computer to do some tests is a must for Dragging items. Graduate Biology level is mandatory

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