Course syllabus

Biologisk översiktskurs
Biology, Introductory Course

TEK290, 7,5 credits, G2 (First Cycle)

Valid for: 2015/16
Decided by: Education Board C
Date of Decision: 2015-04-15

General Information

Main field: Technology.
Elective Compulsory for: Pi3
Elective for: E4, F4
Language of instruction: The course will be given in English on demand

Aim

The course is an optional course the third year of the program technical mathematics at the faculty of engineering at Lund university.

The course runs in parallel with the course Biological modelling, EXTG10. Hence EXTG10 consists of the theoretical and computational parts of TEK290.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and understanding
For a passing grade the student must

• be able to explain basic cell biology concepts
• be able to explain the mechanisms of evolution
• be able to present the levels of organisation in biology
• be able to independently apply computational and modelling methods used in biology

Competences and skills
For a passing grade the student must

• show ability to apply computational methods used in the course
• posses general knowledge in biology that is sufficient to apply computational methods on biological problems.

Contents

Structure and function of the cell. Structure and replication of nucleic acids. Protein synthesis. Gene regulation. Structure of the genome and the proteome. Basic physiology. Classic and population genetics. Evolution. Ecology and population biology basics and models. Common modelling and computational methods in biology.

Examination details

Grading scale: TH
Assessment: The course has no written examination test. The grading is based on the quality of the hand- ins of the exercises. The general biology lectures are approved of by being present at the lectures. To pass the course requires presence on 90% of the lectures.

Admission

Required prior knowledge: FMAF05 Systems and Transforms or equivalent.
The number of participants is limited to: No
The course overlaps following course/s: EXTG10

Reading list

• The Biology content in the course is covered by Mader, S: Biology, latest edition, McGraw-Hill, calculation excersizes are described in handouts and exercize instructions.

Contact and other information

Course coordinator: Anders.Brodin, Anders.Brodin@biol.lu.se
Course homepage: http://biologi.lu.se/utbildning/kurser/kurser-grundniva/biologiska-kurser-pa-grundniva-for-teknologer
Further information: Besides the shared theoretical parts of these courses, TEK290 also contains a general introduction to basic biology. Evolution is the theme that unites the various moments of this course. These moments are the living cell, genetics, micro biology, botany, zoology and ecology. The theoretical parts consist of moments and concepts within theoretical biology such as population genetics, bioinformatics, population ecology and game theory. The course also contains mathematical methods that are inspired by biology, such as genetic algorithms, neural networks and cellular automata. The programming language that is used is MATLAB, meaning that some knowledge of this software is useful. The course consists of a mixture of lectures and theoretical exercises, but no traditional biology laboratory exercises. It can be given in English if exchange students are taking it.