Advanced Undergraduate Seminars

A Love-Hate Relationship: Cholesterol in Health and Disease, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, In this class, we will examine cholesterol's role in the cell and in the body as a w
Antibiotics, Toxins, and Protein Engineering, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, The lethal poison Ricin (best known as a weapon of bioterrorism), Diphtheria toxin (
Avoiding Genomic Instability: DNA Replication, the Cell Cycle, and Cancer, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, In this class we will learn about how the process of DNA replication is regulated th
Bench to Bedside: Molecularly Targeted Therapies in Blood Disorders and Malignancy, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, Where do new drugs and treatments come from? This class will take you from the test
Biological Computing: At the Crossroads of Engineering and Science, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, Imagine you are a salesman needing to visit 100 cities connected by a set of roads.
Brightening up Life: Harnessing the Power of Fluorescence Imaging to Observe Biology in Action, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, One summer in the 1960s a young Japanese researcher, with the help of a few high sch
Cancer Biology: From Basic Research to the Clinic, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, In 1971, President Nixon declared the "War on Cancer," but after three decades the w
Chronic Infection and Inflammation: What are the Consequences on Your Health?, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, In this course we will explore the new emerging field of pathogen-induced chronic di
Developmental and Molecular Biology of Regeneration, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, How does a regenerating animal "know" what's missing? How are stem cells or differen
Directed Evolution: Engineering Biocatalysts, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, Directed evolution has been used to produce enzymes with many unique properties. The
Evolution of the Immune System, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, In this course, evolutionary pathways that have led to the development of innate and
From Molecules to Behavior: Synaptic Neurophysiology, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, Like transistors in a computer, synapses perform complex computations and connect th
Fueling Sustainability: Engineering Microbial Systems for Biofuel Production, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, The need to identify sustainable forms of energy as an alternative to our dependence
G-Protein Coupled Receptors: Vision and Disease, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, How do we communicate with the outside world? How are our senses of vision, smell, t
Harnessing the Biosphere: Natural Products and Biotechnology, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, What do the organisms of the biosphere, specifically microorganisms, have to offer t
Immune Evasion: How Sneaky Pathogens Avoid Host Surveillance, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, Every infection consists of a battle between the invading pathogen and the resisting
Learning and Memory: Activity-Controlled Gene Expression in the Nervous System, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, The mammalian brain easily outperforms any computer. It adapts and changes constantl
Nano-life: An Introduction to Virus Structure and Assembly, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, Watson and Crick noted that the size of a viral genome was insufficient to encode a
Network Medicine: Using Systems Biology and Signaling Networks to Create Novel Cancer Therapeutics, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, In this course, we will survey the primary systems biology literature, particularly
Neuron-glial Cell Interactions in Biology and Disease, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, The main goal of this seminar will be to study the nervous system from the perspecti
Non-coding RNAs: Junk or Critical Regulators in Health and Disease?, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, Every time we scientists think that we have dissected the precise biological nature
Photosynthesis: Life from Light, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, In this course, you will journey through the web of physical, chemical, and biologic
Powerhouse Rules: The Role of Mitochondria in Human Diseases, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, The primary role of mitochondria is to produce 90% of a cell's energy in the form of
Protein Folding, Misfolding and Human Disease, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, Maintenance of the complex three-dimensional structure adopted by a protein in the c
Reading the Blueprint of Life: Transcription, Stem Cells and Differentiation, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, In this course, we will address how transcriptional regulators both prohibit and dri
Regenerative Medicine: from Bench to Bedside, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, Regenerative medicine involves the repair and regeneration of tissues for therapeuti
RNA Interference: A New Tool for Genetic Analysis and Therapeutics, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, To understand and treat any disease with a genetic basis or predisposition, scientis
RNAi: A Revolution in Biology and Therapeutics, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, Despite centuries of effort, modern medicine still struggles to find the source of d
Sophisticated Survival Skills of Simple Microorganisms, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, In this course, we will discuss the microbial physiology and genetics of stress resp
Stem Cells: A Cure or Disease?, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, Have you ever considered going to a pharmacy to order some new cardiomyocytes (heart
Survival in Extreme Conditions: The Bacterial Stress Response, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, Bacteria survive in almost all environments on Earth, including some considered extr
Synaptic Plasticity and Memory, from Molecules to Behavior, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, In this course we will discover how innovative technologies combined with profound h
Systems and Synthetic Biology: How the Cell Solves Problems, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, A millennial challenge in biology is to decipher how vast arrays of molecular intera
Systems Biology: Stochastic Processes and Biological Robustness, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, In this seminar, we will discuss some of the main themes that have arisen in the fie
The Biology of Aging: Age-Related Diseases and Interventions, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, Aging involves an intrinsic and progressive decline in function that eventually will
The DNA Damage Response as a Target for Anti-Cancer Therapy, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, Cellular responses to DNA damage constitute one of the most important fields in canc
The Fountain of Life: From Dolly to Customized Embryonic Stem Cells, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, During development, the genetic content of each cell remains, with a few exceptions,
The Radical Consequences of Respiration: Reactive Oxygen Species in Aging and Disease, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, This course will start with a survey of basic oxygen radical biochemistry followed b
The X in Sex: A Genetic, Medical, and Evolutionary View of the X Chromosome, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, This course will explore a diverse collection of striking biological phenomena assoc
To Divide or Not To Divide: Control of Cell Cycle and Growth by Extracellular Cues, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, Cells, regardless of whether they are in an organ in the human body or a component o
Tumor Suppressor Gene p53: How the Guardian of our Genome Prevents Cancer, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, , Course Description Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. Cancer involves uncontrolled cell grow
Ubiquitination: The Proteasome and Human Disease, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, This seminar provides a deeper understanding of the post-translational mechanisms ev
Under the Radar Screen: How Bugs Trick Our Immune Defenses, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, In this course, we will explore the specific ways by which microbes defeat our immun
Unusual Biology: The Science of Emerging Pathogens, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, Infectious diseases represent a serious global public health problem. They have the
Using Simple Organisms to Model Human Diseases, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, How do scientists discover the basic biology underlying human diseases? Simple organ
Vascular Development in Life, Disease and Cancer Medicine, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, The growth of blood vessels, a process known as angiogenesis, is one of the earliest
Virus-host Interactions in Infectious Diseases, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, Co-evolution and adaptation between viruses and humans are often portrayed as a zero
When Development Goes Awry: How Cancer Co-opts Mechanisms of Embryogensis, MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, Course Description, During this course, we will study the similarities between cancer and normal develop