Biology 2311, Sec 501

Introduction to Modern Biology

Fall 2016
Tuesday and Thursday, 5:30-6:45pm, HH 2.402

Syllabus (Ver. 1.0)

Instructor: Dr. John G. Burr (FN 3.110; 883-2508; burr@utdallas.edu)
Office Hours: Fri, 3:30-4:30 pm, or by appointment
Undergraduate Teaching Assistants: Mr. Mahmoud Abdulbaki; Mr. Eric Chen; Ms. Angela Dang; Ms. Rachel Ho;
Mr. Karthik Hullahalli; Ms. Keely Fitzgerald; Ms. Stephanie Nguyen; Ms. Linda Zhong
Required Text: Biological Science, 5th Ed., Scott Freeman (2014), Vol. 1 (ISBN 0-321-84180-8) (This is a less
expensive paperback edition representing just the first part of the full length hardback textbook, and which
contains the material covered in the lectures.) You can save money by purchasing either of the previous two
editions (4th or 3rd)
Optional: The Cancer Book, Geoffrey Cooper (1993) (ISBN 0-86720-770-1)
Lecture Notes and other course information will be posted on the course web page:
( http://www.utdallas.edu/~burr/BIO2311/ ) (Not on eLearning)
This is the first part of a two-semester lecture sequence of introductory biology. There is a co-requisite
workshop, BIO 2111. All students enrolled in BIO 2311.501 must also enroll in one of the BIO 2111
workshop sections tied to the Sec 501 lecture course 1(ie, workshop sections 001-006). The grade for BIO
2111 will be determined by attendance and scores on homework and occasional quizzes, and it will be worth
10% of the overall grade given for BIO 2301. The same grade will be assigned for both BIO 2311 and BIO
2111. If you withdraw from BIO 2311, you must also withdraw from BIO 2111.
The course content of BIO 2311 emphasizes introductory biochemistry, genetics and molecular cell biology.
For the first three quarters of the semester, the lectures on these topics will more or less follow the textbook; for
the last quarter of the semester, we will illustrate the concepts of molecular cell biology by delving more deeply
than does your text into the molecular basis of cancer.
There will be four exams given in BIO 2311. The exam questions will be a combination of multiple-choice plus
brief essay or short-answer questions. Each of the four exams will be worth 22.5% of the final grade (total
90%), and each will cover all of the material presented in class since the previous exam (lectures, handouts,
and assigned reading). Your exam papers will not be returned, but the answers will be discussed in workshop.
DO NOT MISS THE EXAMS. Makeup exams will be given only in case of a documented emergency and will
be MORE DIFFICULT than the regularly scheduled exam. You must contact the Instructor within 24 hours of
the missed exam and schedule a makeup exam to be taken immediately.
The prerequisite for this course is successful completion of General Chemistry I & II; the first semester of
organic chemistry will ordinarily be taken concurrently with BIO 2311.
See reverse side for lecture schedule
1

Medical Schools and most allied health science programs require (along with other courses) a two-semester sequence of introductory
biology consisting of two 4-hour courses, each of which has a laboratory component, for a total of 8 semester credit hours of lecture
plus laboratory. At UTD, the Biology Department offers two 3-hour lecture courses, Introduction to Modern Biology I and II (BIO
2311, 2312), with associated 1-hour workshops (BIO 2111, 2112) and a separate 2-hour Introductory Biology Laboratory course (BIO
2281), for a total of 10 SCH of lecture plus laboratory.

Biology 2311 Syllabus (Continued)

Fall 2016
Session
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Lecture
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
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Date
Aug 23 Tue
Aug 25 Thurs
Aug 29 Tue
Sept 1 Thurs
Sept 6 Tue
Sept 8 Thurs
Sept 13 Tue
Sept 15 Thurs

9
10
11
12
13

8
9
10
11
12

Sept 20 Tue
Sept 22 Thurs
Sept 27 Tue
Sept 29 Thurs
Oct 4 Tue

14
15
16

13
14
--

Oct 6 Thurs
Oct 11 Tue
Oct 13 Thurs

17
18

15
16

Oct 18 Tue
Oct 20 Thurs

19
20
21
22
23

17
18
19
20
21

Oct 25 Tue
Oct 27 Thurs
Nov 1 Tue
Nov 3 Thurs
Nov 8 Tue

24

22

Nov 10 Thurs

25

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Nov 15 Tue

26
-27
28
29

23
-24
25
26

Nov 17 Thurs
Nov 22, 24
Nov 29 Tue
Dec 1 Thurs
Dec 6 Tue

Subject
Where does it all come from? Origin of life
Chemistry of life
Macromolecules (1)
Macromolecules (2)
Cell membranes (1)
Cell membranes (2)
Cell structure (1)
TEST 1 (Lectures 1-6) The test will cover up to
and through all my lecture material on cell
membranes; Chapters 1-6 in your textbook.
Cell structure (2); Respiration (1)
Respiration (2)
Photosynthesis (1)
Photosynthesis (2)
Cell Division
Meiosis
Mendelian Genetics (1)
TEST 2 (Lectures 7-12) (ie, all my lecture material
since membranes up through and including the
topic of cell division) (Chapts 7, 9-11 in textbook)
Mendelian Genetics (2)
Mendelian Genetics (3); DNA synthesis, mutation,
repair (1)
DNA synthesis, mutation, repair (2)
How do genes work?
Transcription and Translation (1)
Transcription and Translation (2)
Regulation of gene expression: prokaryotes,
eukaryotes
Cancer: epidemiology; terminology
(for the 3rd edition, Chapt 11, pp 237-240)
TEST 3 (Lectures 13 through part of lecture 21; ie,
up to and including my lectures on the material in
Chapters 12 through 17 in your book) (not
including eukaryotic gene regulation, Chapter 18)
Cancer: chemical carcinogenesis
(Thanksgiving Holiday)
The role of viruses in cancer: DNA tumor viruses
The role of viruses in cancer: RNA tumor viruses
TEST 4 (Last part of Lec 21[eukaryotic gene
regulation, Chapter 18 in book] and Cancer Lecs
22-25)

(There is no additional exam for the course given during Finals Week.)

Assignment
Lec. Notes; Chapt 1
Chapt. 2
Chapt. 3-5
Chapt. 3-5
Chapt. 6
Chapt. 6
Chapt. 7
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Chapt. 7; 9
Chapt. 9
Chapt. 10
Chapt. 10
Chapt. 11
pp. 194-204
Chapt. 12
Chapt. 13
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Chapt. 13
Chapt. 13; 14
Chapt. 14
Chapt. 15
Chapt. 16
Chapt. 16
Chapt. 17, 18
Lecture Notes,
Chapt 11: pp 206208
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Lecture Notes
-Lecture Notes
Lecture Notes
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