BIOL 408 - Pathologies of Aging

This course is designed to provide the student with the latest background information about the molecular and cellular changes (the how and why) that lead to organismal aging with an emphasis on human aging and age-related diseases. The course will focus on three components. The first component will address how we define and measure aging. In this section, we will address the benefits and hurdles of studying aging at the individual vs. the population level. The second component of the course will deal with the various theories and molecular hallmarks of cellular aging. Specifically, we will review both recent and hallmark scientific literature on age-specific cellular and molecular changes that affect gene expression and protein modification, which lead to organismal aging. In addition, we will explore how we can use this new information to modulate the aging rate. The third component of the course will focus on technical laboratory skills used to study aging. This part of the course will use a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) where every student will work independently. Research-intensive projects will incorporate techniques such as cloning genes into plasmids, RT-PCR and flow cytometry to evaluate aging-specific signaling pathways and age-specific phenotypic changes.

Pre-req: BIOL 251
Co-req: BIOL 408L
4 credits