Course Description How cells coordinate their molecular components in space and time to accomplish cellular processes, such as division and movement, is a fundamental question in Biology. We will take a historical and experimental approach to this question by surveying literature from the 17th century to present day to understand the process of knowledge creation and its potential limitations. This course is part of the University Core and is a Writing Enriched Designation when this course is taken in addition to BIOL 205L. BIOL 205L and BIOL 399 are part of the Writing Enrichment Couplet for Biology Majors.
Course Philosophy, Scope and Objectives:
In this seminar, we will investigate the source of our understanding about fundamental biological processes. We will do so by engaging the primary literature with the goals of:
1. Learning how experiments are designed
2. Interpreting their results
3. Situating them within the context of society
4. Appreciating the aesthetic aspects of science
Our focus on select experiments is not to highlight them as groundbreaking or give the impression that scientific advances are made by a few select people, but to use particularly elegant experiments to draw us in and discover how the scientific process works. It’s easy to assume that since experimentation is at the core of scientific discovery, that how it reveals information to us is both straightforward and understandable. But experiments are more than a collection of random stuff that we observe and their role in knowledge creation is not always decipherable. In this class, we will decipher it together. We will also examine how scientific processes function within society at large. This means whose voice is being amplified, how resources are allocated for research, and which institutions are codifying that knowledge, are equally important to consider as experimental results.
My goals are to:
1. Build an environment where you are comfortable and interested in exploring challenging concepts and developing new skills.
2. Introduce you to a framework for how knowledge is generated in the field of Molecular Cell Biology.
3. Provide an overview of topics and techniques to inform and support your growth as a scientist.
4. Guide your trajectory in building skills to read, write, and communicate primary literature.
Your goals should be to:
1. Understand, critically evaluate, and communicate experimental evidence.
2. Focus on how a biological question can be formulated as an experimental question, investigate how data speak to this question, reason through the model’s strengths and possible shortcomings, and hopefully, broaden your appreciation for the elegance and beauty of scientific experimentation.
3. Develop reading, writing, and discussion-based scientific communication skills: When you find it difficult to share in class, challenge yourself to do so. When you find it easy to speak up in class, challenge yourself to foster discussion with others.
4. Gain a more thorough understanding of the academic writing process including the incorporation of feedback received during revisions, integration of both primary and secondary literature in writing, and the use of a citation manager.
Guidelines: The goal of this class is to learn how to read and communicate results from primary literature. You shouldn’t expect to comprehend everything at first! These papers require areas of expertise, which means lots of specific terminology. If there’s a term you don’t know, look it up. Write down your questions. The goal is not to come to class able to explain the paper as well as the authors, it’s to come to class prepared to discuss what you did and didn’t understand so that you can build these skills.
Here are your guidelines for the readings:
Who wrote this paper? What is their background?
What is the overarching biological question?
What is a 1-2 sentence summary of the findings?
What biological concepts or mechanisms are central to the study?
What are the methodologies used?
What does each figure in the paper contribute to the story? (Start with Figure 1, go sequentially).
Did you enjoy reading this? Any sentences stand out to you?
What parts didn’t make sense?
What could the authors have done differently?