General provisions

Part of the Bachelor program in biomedicin.

Entry requirements

35 credits completed courses from the first year at the bachelor program in biomedicin including Biochemistry 7credits (3KB030), Anatomy 8 credits (3AN300), Molecular Cell Biology 15 credits (3MU123), Immunology 4.5 credits (3KB031), Bacteriology 7.5 credits (3KB032) or corresponding courses.

Learning outcomes

The course provides good knowledge of cell interactions during formation of various types of tissues as well as of cellular specialisation with a focus on man and model organisms.

The student is expected on completion of the course to have acquired:

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:

• Be able to account for fertilisation, gastrulation, embryonic development and describe the development of the organs in vertebrates and how these processes are governed.
• Be able to account for how signal transduction governs cell determination and differentiation.
• Be able to account for the structure of different tissues.
• Be able to account for basic methods to study relationship between genotype and phenotype in different model organisms.
• Be able to account for legal aspects of work with human embryos and embryonic stem cells produced by in vitro fertilisation.
• Be able to account for the regulation of cell division and cell death at the onset of cancer.

SKILL AND ABILITIES:

• Be able to carry out a simple dissection of the early chicken embryo and to identify the basic embryonic structures.
• Be able to design and carry out biomedical experiments independently.
• Be able to assess what a microscopical preparation shows regarding basic tissues.
• Be able to discuss problems regarding ethical aspects of reproductive and therapeutic cloning.
• Be able to compile and interpret results in written as well as oral format.

JUDGEMENT AND APPROACH:

• Be able to search, compile, present and critically review cell and tissue biology information.

Content

Embryology:

Fertilisation and early embryonic development as well as the development of the different organ systems, prenatal injuries and certain ethical aspects around stem cells.

Tissue biology:

Cell adhesion, extracellular matrix, glycobiology, specialised cells and tissues, growth factors, embryonic induction and morphogenesis, germ cells, somatic cells, cell differentiation during embryogenesis, transcriptional control and signal transduction, stem cells, model organisms for studies of the development of the cells and tissues, basic genetics and genetic analysis, transgenic- and gene elimination techniques, the formation of cancer and tumour cells, angiogenesis and blood coagulation.

Training in oral and written presentation.

A continuous evaluation of the course design is ongoing and may result in some changes in structure and content of the courses.

Instruction

Lectures, seminars, group presentations, demonstrations, computer based histology sessions, laboratory sessions and seminar presentations.

At the group presentations, the student independently and as part of a group, should acquire, review, compile and present (orally and in writing) information from a given task. The student should furthermore prepare a scientific review of another group's presentation.

Teaching in the form of lectures and practical exercises are furthermore given in library science and oral and written presentation technique.

The course participants' attendance is compulsory at seminars, histology sessions, group assignments, linguistic training and at all activities in connection with the laboratory sessions.

Beside the teaching methods specified in the syllabus other ways of teaching may be used during the course.

Assessment

The following is required to obtain a pass:

i) that the student in an active way has participated in and presented the compulsory parts (laboratory sessions, demonstrations, seminars and group presentations),

ii) passed written laboratory reports,

iii) passed tests and

iv) written examination upon completion of the course. Compensation or alternative date for compulsory parts is only offered the student if the reason for absence was due to special causes, e.g. accidents, sudden disease or comparable events. In the written final examination is included all course material. Strong emphasis is placed on laboratory sessions and seminars with attached theory. Assessment/grading of the written examination takes place with anonymity. Views on assessment and marking should be stated in writing to the course administration in the form of a set questionnaire.

If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.