Modern Molecular Genetics: From Classical Studies to Today

This module discusses the relationship between genes and enzymes, starting with Garrod's work on alkaptonuria and culminating in Beadle and Tatum's "one gene, one enzyme" hypothesis. It covers early biochemical genetics and the foundation of the field.

This module focuses on the discovery that DNA is the genetic material, covering Avery's work on pneumococcus transformation and the Hershey-Chase experiment. It discusses the historical context and the scientific community's initial skepticism.

This module explores the origin of mutations, focusing on the Luria-Delbrück experiment that demonstrated the random nature of mutations. It covers the fluctuation test and its implications for understanding bacterial genetics.

This module discusses the discovery of DNA structure by Watson and Crick, and its implications for understanding genetic information and replication. It covers the historical context and the importance of base pairing in DNA replication.

This module focuses on Benzer's fine structure genetic analysis of the rII locus in bacteriophage T4. It covers the power of the rII system, cis-trans complementation, and the linear topology of DNA.

This module discusses the genetic code, focusing on the work of Benzer and Champe on rII deletions and Crick's paper on the nature of the genetic code. It covers frameshift mutations and the triplet nature of the code.

This module covers the discovery and characterization of nonsense mutations (stop codons) and suppressor mutations. It discusses the work of Benzer and Brenner on amber and ochre mutations.

This module focuses on conditional lethal mutations in bacteriophage T4 and their use in studying phage assembly. It covers amber and temperature-sensitive mutations, and the concept of independent assembly lines in phage morphogenesis.

This module covers bacterial recombination and conjugation, focusing on the work of Lederberg and Tatum, and Wollman and Jacob. It discusses the discovery of Hfr strains and the mechanism of DNA transfer in bacteria.

This module focuses on the regulation of gene expression in the lactose operon, covering the work of Jacob and Monod. It discusses inducible and constitutive mutations, and the concept of negative regulation.

This module covers lysogeny in bacteriophage lambda, focusing on the regulation of lytic and lysogenic cycles. It discusses the discovery of the cro gene and its role in the lysis-lysogeny decision.

This module discusses positive regulation of gene expression, focusing on the arabinose system. It covers the work of Engelsberg et al. on araC mutants and the concept of activator proteins in gene regulation.