Evaluations will be based on class attendance and participation (including bringing in extra relevant material), making mini-presentations throughout the quarter, a quarter-end major small-group presentation (3 people, 45 minutes) and your self evaluation. You will be expected to maintain a Portfolio of your work and turn it in at Week 5 and again at the end of the quarter, with your draft self evaluation.
I have intentionally left this initial syllabus rather sketchy, and will give you a more detailed one once I have a chance to better see your interests and needs.
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| 1 /September 24 | First class: Introductions and goals; Setting the stage: Viruses in
the natural world;
Overview: viruses in the ecosystem (including in oceans, maintenance of microbial and insect populations); discussion of virus families; basic infection processes. |
Readings from Ackermann |
| 2 /October 1 | A. Properties of viruses; Lytic phages
B. Introduction to the immune system tissues and cells: T and B cells |
A. Brock: 236-259; "Bacteriophages"; "T-phages"
B. Brock: 801-826; Macrophages, dendritic cells, epitope presentation and superantigens |
| 3 /October 8 | Guest Speaker: Burt Guttman "Prophage and Lambda"
A. Lysogeny B. HIV and AIDs C. Continue immunology discussion |
A. Brock 259-267; handout
B. Brock 946-955; 875-881 |
| 4 /October 15 | DUE:
1. Short statement of research plan and team. 2. 1-2 pages about some aspects of your reading, other than the project. B. Guest speakers: Robin Moore, Naturopathic physician; Cheri Lucas-Jennings C. Communication in and with the immune system: cytokines; activation; apoptosis; tolerance |
C. Brock 826-852 |
| Monday, October 22, 3:15 PM -- guest speaker
-- Julian Davies -- Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance, LH 5
The use of antibiotics has transformed the treatment of infectious diseasesduring the last half-century and until recetly it was a rare infection that was refractory. Nowadays, resistant bacterial strains are more common and antibiotics often fail, particularly among the young, elderly and hosptalised patients. There are a number of reasons for this change (some will be discussed), but lack of knowledge of bacteria and their ability to survive catastrophes is perhaps the most important. We are now trying to understand how microbes evolve to survive antibiotics and I will summarise the current state of our comprehension. One thing is certain, antibiotic resistance is a very complex process! Will this knowledge help to expand the useful lifetime of existing antibiotics and find new and better ones? This remains to be seen. Finally I would like to present some ideas on the roles of antibiotics in nature; are they really antibiotics? |
| 5 /October 22 | Portfolio -- first half work --due during week 5
A. Seminar: Book about AIDS, of your choice
B.Continue cytokines discussion: review readings, discussion of questions from small groups and new ones. |
A. AIDS book of your choice.
B. Brock 826-852 |
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| 6 /October 29 | IMMUNOLOGY QUIZ
A. Large DNA viruses: Herpes, the "eukaryotic T4" |
A. Brock 276-279; 945-947, Herpes handout |
| DUE Nov. 5:
1. 3-page paper -- use the 2 handouts related to dendritic cells. Summarize the material you understand in them as best you can, phrase questions about the parts you don't understand as sophisticatedly as you can, and distinguish carefully between what you do and don't understand. You are welcome to use your notes, etc., and encouraged to use the colored figure of cytokines and the infection process that I gave you. [Note that this is NOT intended to be a research paper -- you don't need to do further research of any sort to try to answer the questions you formulate -- the formulation is the idea!!] 2. More detailed outline of presentations.
Explicitly,
who is going to be responsible for what sections? Why is this topic
of interest, and what are the main important points you are trying to make?
What are the main references you have been using to date? What questions
are you now focussing on in your research? (One of the main factors
in making a good presentation is defining your topic both narrowly enough
and broadly enough. Often, this means giving a general broad overview
and choosing a few specific pieces or examples that you really focus in
on. These may be chosen because of their special interest or
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| 7 /November 5 | A. Small circular ds DNA viruses: Papovaviridae
- papilloma viruses, warts and cancer
B. Hepatitis viruses: B (Hepadnaviridae family, circular ds DNA
-- vaccination issue, especially); C (Flaviviridae family;
C. Immunization |
A. Brock 276-7; 886, Papilloma handout
B. Brock 282; 988-989 C. Brock: 803-4, 847-9, 908-11 |
| 8 /November 12 | A. HIV and AIDS
B. Psychoneuroimmunology |
A. Handout from Principles of Virology (Flint)
632-661 World impact of viral diseases -- a discussion
B. Handouts from Psychoneuroimmunology, 3rd edition: (since one of the groups is dealing with PNI, exactly what is covered in this class discussion will be chosen to complement what they will be doing.) |
| November 19 | Thanksgiving Break | none |
| 9 /November 26 | Time for you to meet with your group, practice, see what you still need to do or ask to prepare for an excellent presentation -- I will be back by Nov. 28 if you need further help from me in an way, and you can also email me. | none |
| 10 /December 2 | PNI group; (rest of schedule to be determined Nov.
5) |
none |
| 10 /December 9 | Student group presentations: (schedule to be determined
Nov. 5)
Final quiz on viruses, etc. and discussion thereof (with study guide in advance) Portfolios and draft self evaluation due |
none |
Brock: Biology of Microorganisms (a very good, broad microbiology text which some of you already have and M2O will be using - or use any good recent micro book you have)
short readings handed out, readings and books on reserve, and your own explorations of the literature.
Good other resource books include:
G. L. Smith, W. L. Irving et al: New Challenges to Health: The Threat
of Virus Infection (2001)
SJ Flint et al- Principles of Virology: molecular biology, pathogenesis
and control (2000)
I have the older edition of Webster - Encyclopedia of Virology and
the library is ordering the most recent division.
Immunology studies will be woven throughout the quarter. While we will only be studying certain aspects of immunology - primarily those most relevant to viral infection, + psychoneuroimmunology - a number of you may want to get an immunology book, both for use here and for future reference. They are available at Amazon.com for around $60. (There will be some immunology books on the reserve shelf as well.) Possible choices include:
Roitt and Rabson - Really essential Medical Immunology - 2000
Kuby's Immunology - 4th edition - Goldsby et al. - 2000 WH Freeman
Janeway - ImmunoBiology 5th edition -- Garland
PRESENTATIONS: Students will be required to give substantial presentations at the end of the quarter, preferably in groups of about 3, and will also be very much encouraged to give short individual presentations throughout the quarter as part of the general class sessions.
Questions to address in general in presentations: virus family, basic
properties and infection cycle. modes of transmission, reservoirs, breadth
of infectivity, ecological factors and effects; vaccine availability and
effectiveness, nature and length of immunity induced by natural infection
and from various available vaccine types;
Some suggested topics for student presentations:
Adenoviruses and gene therapy
Baculoviruses (plant viruses) and molecular biology
Cholera, filamentous and temperate phages, and pathogenicity islands
The Hantavirus epidemic: tracking down the etiology; social concerns
Morbilliviruses, world-wide agriculture and endangered species
Common family members: measles (MV), canine distemper virus (CDV - ferrets, mink, panda, seals), rinderpest ((RPV - ruminants - buffalo, kudu, eland); phocid distemper virus (PDV - seals); cetacean morbillivirus (CeMV - whales, porpoises, dolphins)
Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus (MMTV), mtv and the roles of superantigens
Prions
Rabies (a negative-strand RNA virus)
Rotavirus (a reovirus) and infant diarrhea in 3rd-world countries
Smallpox: infection process and consequences, vaccination, eradication and potential for bioterrorism
Last updated October 29, 2001